Between Two Worlds
by Commander Mander
Summary: Two universe's problems can only be solved with the help of one woman. With an alcoholic, war battered Shepard, a former Cerberus Operative, a Witcher, a Sorceress, and the Lady of Time and Space, the situation could get a little hectic.
1. The Journey

Shepard lay on the cold hard floor of her cabin, an empty bottle of booze and a datapad with the word 'REAPERS' blinking in bright red text lay next to her face as she snored away. She was awoken by the boom of Liara's voice over the intercom.

"Shepard, something urgent has come up. I'm coming up to your cabin now."

"Uggghhh... just make sure not to make too much noise when you come in."

Moments later, Liara stood over Shepard with her arms crossed and a disappointed look on her face.

"Shepard, you've been drinking again?"

"Zzzz... oh geez Liara. Didn't even see you there," Shepard said, peeling her drool covered face off the floor.

Liara sighed as she helped the tipsy Commander off the ground and onto the couch.

"I know this war is taking a toll on you, but the answer to winning it isn't going to be found at the bottom of a bottle."

"You sure about that," Shepard scoffed as she reached for another off the side table.

Liara smacked her hand away.

"Shepard, this is serious. The Council needs to see you immediately. They say that they may have found the answer to completing the Crucible."

"Well if they say the answer to the Crucible fell on their doorstep, then I guess we gotta go right over."

"No, we need to go because it's the Council. Now come on, let's get you all cleaned up and put in your dress uniform."

Shepard groaned.

* * *

A few hours later the Normandy had docked on the Citadel. Shepard stood behind Joker as Admiral Hackett's face appeared on video.

"Hackett here. The Council and I are requesting permission to come aboard."

"Permission granted. Joker, send them to the war room. Liara and I will be waiting."

"Roger, Commander. Oh, and maybe you might want to take a few breath mints. I can smell booze on your breath from a mile away."

"You say that with the assumption that I care." Shepard took a sip from a flask as she headed to the war room.

* * *

Everyone of note gathered together in the war room.

"You had something to show me," Shepard slurred.

Hackett, visibly annoyed by Shepard's clear drunkenness loudly cleared his throat as he started.

"As work on the Crucible progresses it's clear that it's unable to be finished without the Catalyst. Very recently, an 'unnamed informant' within Cerberus contacted us with some crucial information."

"Oh so when _I_ work with Cerberus, totally not okay, throw the book at me. But aaaaall of a sudden the fate of the galaxy is at stake and eeeeverything goes out the window. Oh wait, the fate of the galaxy has BEEN at stake! But because it's the Council doing it, it's -"

"Shepard!" Liara gave her a fierce elbow to the rib. The Council exchanged annoyed glances and Hackett cleared his throat even louder this time before continuing.

"As I was saying, our 'informant' who left Cerberus some time ago came to us with crucial information. She states that the answer to the Catalyst likely lies not in a what, but a who. I believe they'll be able to explain it a lot better than myself."

Everyone heard footsteps and turned to see Miranda Lawson entering the room.

"Good day everyone. Shall I begin?"

Hackett waved his hand toward the console.

"Good to see you in person, Miranda," Shepard greeted.

"Likewise, Commander." Miranda tapped her Omni-tool and a hologram of the galaxy appeared over the table. "Shortly before I left Cerberus, I sifted through the Illusive Man's top secret files for anything I could use to my advantage upon my fleeing. I noticed something he'd been keeping track of the past few years that only seemed of relevance once the Crucible had been discovered." She tapped her Omni-tool and all of the star clusters under attack by Reapers lit up green. "These here are places where large energy pulses could be detected prior to Reaper invasion. Whatever left these large energy pulses has the ability to travel from place to place in the blink of an eye, hence the trail that was left behind."

Shepard made a circular motion with her had as if to tell Miranda to get to the point. She angrily glanced back at Shepard before continuing.

"As I was saying, upon extrapolating a pattern, it was evidenced that these pulses coincided with the appearance of a woman who was clearly not of this world." A picture of an Ashen haired woman with emerald green eyes and a scar across her cheek appeared on the hologram.

"What makes you assume she's not of this world? Is it the sword hanging off her waist, because she could be one of those Cerberus phantoms."

Liara jabbed Shepard in the rib again before nodding toward Miranda for her to continue.

"We assume the woman is not of this world because we've tracked her pattern to what appears to be another universe. One where people ride on horses and fight with magic. It's all quite unbelievable."

Shepard took a hefty sip from her flask when she assumed no one was looking.

"Sounds pretty *belch* unbelievable to me at least. So how is this supposed to help us with the catalyst again?"

"If this woman indeed has the ability to travel between space and time then interacting with the Crucible could cause the gate to another world to open, where we'll send the Reapers."

"So we get rid of them by making them someone else in another world's problem?"

"Not exactly. The world we plan to send them to is unpopulated. Their sentient species went extinct long ago."

Shepard belched loudly. "Well I'm sold. So what we just gonna fly over there or something, pick her up and say 'hey, you don't know us, but please save us from certain death', because if that doesn't work we can always use the bound and gag method."

Liara kicked Shepard in the side of the knee almost sending her tumbling to the floor.

Councilor Tevos stepped up to speak. "Shepard, we've come up with a plan for you to take a trip to this... other world. With a lot of eezo and a little hope, we should be able create a pulse large enough to transport your ship there, but you won't have enough resources to get back. You'll have to rely on finding this woman. She will be the key to you getting home, and to saving ours."

"You really think going by ship is the best idea? I mean we're literally dealing with a world that doesn't have computers and where people probably still get scurvy. I don't know how kindly they'd take to us showing up with blue aliens with tentacle heads and bird people."

"You'll just have to make do, Shepard. You've always been known to find a way where there is none. Good luck to you, Commander." The Asari Councilor bowed as everyone except Miranda left the ship.

"You're staying behind?"

"I traded the information with the Council in exchange for a place on the mission. I'll make myself comfortable somewhere on the ship."

"Whatever." Shepard took a sip from her flask as she exited the room.

* * *

A couple of days later, the crew of the Normandy was gathered at the Citadel with the Council and Admiral Hackett.

"Have all the preparations been made," Shepard asked.

"Everything is in place. In a few hours we'll be sending you off to another universe. If you make it, you'll be the first in our recorded history to do so," stated Councilor Tevos. "Would you like to make a speech?"

"Not really."

Everyone in the room gave Shepard an angry glance. She sighed.

"Fine." Councilor Tevos put a recorder to her face. Shepard looked at the hopeful faces that had gathered around the room and took a deep breath before beginning.

 _"We are travelers, constantly moving forward, and looking back, alone, and as one. We have no choice but to try, for our insatiable curiosity, for our fear of what should happen if we don't. We will say goodbye, and you will look back one last time and know, that wherever you go, we will be with you. This is Commander Shepard, signing off."_

The room was silent for a moment before everyone burst into applause. The Councilor wiped a tear from under her eye. "Commander that... that was beautiful."

Shepard belched loudly in response. "I bet. Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

As Shepard and the crew headed toward the docking bay, they were stopped by a familiar face.

"Grunt?"

"Heh heh heh. I heard about the little adventure you're all planning to go on. You're about to make history, Shepard. Thought you might have some space for a Krogan on board."

"Asari, Turian, Quarian, Prothean, a robot, Miranda, Ashley, mm a Krogan couldn't hurt any worse I suppose. Let's go."

"Heh heh, this is gonna be fun."

Shepard stood between Joker and Edi on the bridge.

"Looks like the Normandy's geared up for her big cross universe adventure. You ready, Commander?"

"We don't even know what to expect down there. We land on this new universe and what happens? They try to burn us at the stake or throw our heads in a guillotine? Or they curse us and turn us into werewolves? I just don't see this going well."

"What do you think EDI," Joker asked.

"Normandy taking off in 3...2..." she pressed the button, sending the crew to another world.


	2. The Case of Mistaken Identity

Almost as soon as it had started, their voyage to a new world was complete. Due to the Normandy never having exerted so much energy before, the ship malfunctioned and crash landed near a cave, throwing everyone on board to the ground.

Shepard lifted herself off the up and looked out the window to the view of a cave and a vast forest.

"Wow, this is *hic* beautiful. Let's gather everyone in the war room. We're gonna need a strategy."

"A little help, Commander," Joker requested as he lay on the floor, his limbs twitching.

"EDI, help Joker up."

* * *

Moments later Shepard had gathered in the war room with the crew and Traynor, who had been scribbling on a notepad. Shepard took a sip from a flask before she began.

"All *hic* right everyone, on my way from the bridge to this room, I've devised a foolproof plan. For one, and for good reason, only humans are allowed to venture outside of the range of the cave we crashed near. We don't know *hic* what's out there, but we don't want to scare these poor medieval folk. Two, no technology. If you venture out, Omni-tools, datapads, whatever. They stay here. For now, Miranda and I will go out to the nearest town and try to find the gray haired chick or whatever. Any *hic* questions?"

Miranda raised her hand.

"How are we supposed to show what she looks like without-"

"Traynor," Shepard snapped, "how far along are you with the project?"

"Annnnd done, actually." She faced her notepad to the rest of the group to reveal a drawing of the young woman. It looked exactly like her, to a tee.

"Awesome, any more questions or can we stop wasting time?"

Traynor raised her hand.

"Can I go to?"

"Whatever. Is there _anything_ else?"

Liara raised her hand.

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?"

"What if anything lives in that cave?"

"Kill it, fight it, adopt it, marry it. I don't know. There are at least two of you that'll stay here, you'll figure something out. If anyone else has a question write it on a paper and shove it up your ass. Meeting *belch* adjourned."

* * *

Shepard, Traynor, and Miranda waited outside of the ship next to the cave.

"Before we step off, I have another plan."

Miranda gasped sarcastically. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. Look, if we're going to blend in around here we obviously can't wear these clothes, so once we get to the nearest town we all need to strip down to our underwear and pretend we got robbed or something."

"Shepard, that's a terrible idea."

Traynor jumped up in excitement. "Sounds like fun to me. I'm in!"

Miranda shook her head. "If you think I'm going to do that you're insane."

"We'll see who laughs last, Miranda," Shepard finished with an intense glare.

They continued through the woods toward the nearest sign post.

 ** _SKELLIGE_**

* * *

Back at the cave, Liara and James decided to go inside to investigate. Liara, holding a lamp she'd found outside the cave, went ahead of him.

She waved the air in front of her face. "It smells a bit... dank in here."

"Yeah, almost like we're on Tuchanka or something."

"There, who is," they heard from the back of the cave.

The two of them stopped in their tracks.

"Psst, Li, you hear that, too?"

"Maybe if we just stand really still, it won't even know we're here."

They heard large heavy footsteps approach them. A troll stepped into the light of Liara's lamp.

"You, who are? We no know you. Cave, me. My cave."

"My god, it speaks English."

Liara cleared her throat. "We no mean harm, you to."

"No harm. Me. Harm. Nooooo," the troll repeated, shaking its head.

Another set of large footsteps could be heard. This time, from behind them.

"That ship was getting cramped. Had to come out and see what was in here," Grunt interrupted. Liara sighed in relief.

"Grunt, this here is- my apologies, what was your name, again?"

"Me name, Bobo."

"Right, Mister Bobo here says this is his home. We want to ask him if he'll let us stay here."

"You got any meat in this cave?"

"Bobo have many meat. Meat big. Meat large. Meat tasty. Bobo meat share, friends with."

"Heh heh."

* * *

"I spy with my little eye something... green," Traynor continued.

"Is it another tree," Miranda answered, annoyed.

"Right!"

"Traynor there's nothing around us but trees. If you tell me you see another tree, I swear to- a gate," Shepard pointed with excitement. "Our salavation! Everyone act like you're writhing in pain or something." Shepard chugged what was left in her flask before stripping down to her underwear, falling to the ground, and screaming. "Ahhh... I'm a... damsel *hic* in distress. I need help. My peasant friends... and I... were attacked by *belch* bandits and- oooohhhh it hurts so much. Pain. So much pain!" She threw her hand on her forehead as she continued squirming on the ground. Traynor played along.

"You two, this is ridiculous. Just get-," Shepard punched Miranda in the shin and she fell to the ground grabbing her leg. "Ooowww that really hurt."

The gates opened revealing five men dressed in red holding swords. One of them stepped forward and pointed their sword at Shepard.

"And who might you be? Ye say yer a damsel in distress. Look more like a drunk whore to me." The other guards laughed at the insinuation.

"Hey, you-"

"Anyway, we ain't acceptin visitors in Ard Skellige today, unless you be here to see the funeral comin up soon."

Miranda dusted herself off and stood up. She smacked the guard's sword out of his hand with her biotics.

"First of all, eyes up here. Second of all, this is no way to treat a lady. You didn't even bother to ask if we were here to see the funeral, because we very well could be! Maybe we were on our way and our carriage was destroyed by savages. Whether that occurred or not, we clearly need help. As a matter of fact, I want to talk to your boss so he can be made aware of how diligently his bodyguards treated a group of helpless young women," she finished, poking the guard in the chest as she hovered over him.

The guards were stunned by her ferocity. The main one dropped to his knees in front of her.

"My dearest apologies, madam. It's clear who you are, now. I'd know clue ye were comin by today. You weren't expected til tomorrow morning. I'll get everything settled right away."

"And who might I be," Miranda interrogated.

"Ain't it obvious? Yennefer of Vengerberg. Jarl said ye be a tough mistress. Didn't comment on your bustiness, though."

"Excuse me?"

"Aye, my bad again. Slip of the tongue. The Jarl'll be wantin to see you after supper this evenin. Please don't tell im what I did. I've a family to feed. Can't risk losin me job." He stood and dusted himself off. "This way, please." The guards led them through the city gates.

"Good job there, 'Yennefer'," Shepard whispered.

* * *

Later that night, the crew was dressed in clothes gifted to them by the Jarl and seated in a dining hall. Shepard stuffed her gullet with grilled pork and mead. A guard approached them.

"Ye all havin a good time?"

"Mmhmm," Shepard responded, her cheeks popping out and meat hanging out of her mouth.

"Once ye er all fed, Crach en Craite wants to see you," he stated, pointing to Miranda.

"My guests will be coming with me."

"That's fer the Jarl to decide, albeit I don't expect him to deny you any requests. Ye all keep enjoyin yerselves."

* * *

After dinner, the three of them approached the door to the balcony. Through the door, they could see a fabulously dressed, heftily built man overlooking the town. Miranda nervously eyed Shepard and Traynor.

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Just go with the flow." Shepard shoved Miranda sending her flying through the double doors and into the vicinity of the Jarl. He spun around and approached Miranda, embracing her in a tight hug.

"Ah! Yennefer, long time no see! You're a bit earlier than expected I must say. Thought you'd be accompanied by The Witcher."

The squad exchanged bewildered glances.

"The... Witcher?"

"Geralt? I assumed you'd straightened your hair and dolled yourself up for his appearance at the funeral."

Miranda stared at him blankly as she stroked her hair.

"Y-yes, of course I did. Why wouldn't I have?"

He chuckled. "Of course! Yen, you didn't introduce me to your guests."

"Oh, this is Jane, that's Sam," the two of them waved as big grins crossed their faces. "They're my escorts."

"Ah, I heard about you and your carriage. Awful news. But you'll all be safe and sound here. As requested your room should be stocked with all the accommodations. We'll find something do to for your guests as well. Any requests?"

Just as Shepard and Traynor raised their hands in unison, Miranda cut them off.

"No, no. That's fine enough. Alright everyone, to bed, chop chop. We'll reconvene in the morning. Thank you for all your help, umm Cratchet and Crank." Miranda shoved everyone off the balcony and shut the door.

Crach shook his head and smiled.

"Yennefer, as fierce as ever."

* * *

The three of them met up in "Miranda's" quarters. As they went over the days events, Shepard poured herself a glass of wine and shoved a handful of berries into her mouth.

"So we've got clothes, food, and a place to stay. What now," Miranda asked the group.

"What do you mean what now? You didn't even ask him about the girl," Shepard snapped, shoving more berries into her mouth and washing them down with wine.

"That's because I've got another idea. Whoever this woman is is obviously in a position of power. We just need to exploit it in order to get more information."

"And what about when she shows up tomorrow and finds you in her room, in her clothes, drinking her wine, and eating her berries?"

"Shepard you're the only one drinking wine and eating berries, and if worse comes to worst then we improvise. If we're lucky, we get the information and leave before things get too hectic. Hopefully by the time we wake in the morning someone will have come up with a plan."

"Really? Because I feel like you just want to live her life for as long as possible and be treated like a queen, but what do I know?" Shepard chugged down the rest of the wine and shoved another handful of berries into her mouth. "Shee you in the merning."

* * *

That night, the crew that had stayed near the cave sat around a fire, enjoying a feast of roasted meat. Grunt munched on a huge leg of 'who-knows-what'.

"So how'd you end up with your own cave, rock buddy," Grunt asked, taking a bite of his portion.

"Cave me. Across come! Critters kill. Cave, mine."

"Heh heh, I like this guy!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and continued eating their supper as the night darkened and the fire blazed on.


	3. The Time Sentitive Situation

The next morning, Miranda was in the midst of a peaceful sleep when she was abruptly disturbed by the sound of Shepard banging into her room.

"Miranda, get up. I've got an idea."

"Ugh, can't this wait until the morning."

"Umm, excuse me, Princess, but it just so happens that it is morning." Shepard flung the curtains open revealing sunlight. Miranda covered her eyes with the back of her arm. "Also, it's kind of time sensitive, so we need to talk now."

Miranda got up and put on 'her' clothes, all black and white.

"Does this 'plan' of yours just so happen to be foolproof?"

"Have I failed you yet?" Shepard rolled a chalkboard into the room. "Now as was originally stated by the guards as well as Crank in Bates, 'you' are theoretically supposed to arrive for the funeral 'tomorrow' which is now today. Now," Shepard scribbled the word 'TODAY' on the chalkboard. "You could be arriving any moment now. Traynor and I will block the road and find this 'Yennefer' person and pretend to be her escorts appointed by the Jarl himself." She scribbled 'Yennifair' on the board, not knowing quite how to spell her name. "While we retrieve the target, you hide." She wrote Miranda's name, drew a circle around it and crossed it out. "While that's happening- are you following along?"

"The chalkboard really helps," Miranda replied convincingly.

"I thought it would. Continuing." She drew three stick figures with long hair and circles on their chests. "You hide somewhere in this room, we get all the information we need from this Yen lady, and once everything pans out," she stood in front of the board writing something across its entirety. She moved to reveal the word 'WINNERS' covering the diagram she'd drawn up. "We retrieve you from the room and continue mission, saving our galaxy from certain death." She finished, dropping the chalk and placing her hands on her hips, a smirk crawling across her face.

"Hmm, well I'll admit, the plan is very well thought out." Miranda stroked her chin.

"Unless you have a better plan, I suppose you erase all doubt from your mind. Now, hide. We gotta go get the person whose identity you stole."

Miranda took a deep breath and hid in a closet. "Gee, even this closet is bigger than my apartment on the Citadel, and everything in here is black and white. This woman at least has some fashion sense."

Shepard sighed, grabbed a bottle of wine, and left the room to meet with Traynor on the road.

* * *

"I spy with my little-"

"Traynor I swear to God, if you spy anything else with your little eye it'll end up on the ground when I'm done with you."

"Well what else should we do to pass the time?"

"Why don't you sing me a song."

"Oh I know one," she cleared her throat. "There was a farmer had a dog and Bingo was his-"

"Sam, just shut the hell up, please."

"Sorry, I just-," she put her arm in front of Shepard to stop her. "Do you hear that?"

"What?"

"It sounds like... galloping horses."

Off in the distance they could make out the sight of a carriage. One fit for a nobleman, or noblewoman. As it approached, Shepard pulled out a horn and blew into it. The carriage stopping in its tracks. A guardsman dressed in black came out and drew his sword. Traynor looked to Shepard for guidance, unaware of what her plans were.

"Any reason you've blocked our path. We've somewhere to be, and it's a bit time sensitive."

Shepard glanced down at the palm of her hand and cleared her throat. "Uhh, Hear ye, hear ye, we are... Ecuadorians, appointed by Jarl... uhh... Clack ard Clank himself to... escort umm Yennefer of... Venezuela... into the city of... Skyrim," Shepard read, the note smudged on her palm from sweat.

"Escorting Yennefer of Vengerberg is our job."

"Says who," Shepard spat.

A woman with long, wavy, raven colored hair dressed in black and white jumped out of the carriage and hostilely approached Shepard and Traynor. "Says me, and who are you? I wasn't made aware that I was being sent escorts."

Sweat dripped from Shepard's forehead. The woman's powerful aura could be felt by anyone she came into contact with, and Shepard was clearly nervous. Not knowing how to continue her line of thinking, Traynor took the lead.

"Jarl Crach en Craite gave us last minute notice that you might need extra protection." She leaned into Yennefer and whispered in her ear. "He got a tip that one of your guards might be an assassin using the funeral as a guise to mask his ruse. You can speak with him more once we get to Skellige."

A stern expression clouded Yennefer's face. She turned towards the guards.

"They'll be allowed into the carriage." She turned to address Traynor. "I swear if you're lying to me I'll hunt you down myself."

Traynor nodded.

Yennefer clapped her hands together. "Chop chop, back to business. We must make haste if we are to arrive to the funeral on time."

As they neared the carriage, Shepard whispered to Traynor. "Good one, but how are we supposed to keep her from asking the Jarl about-"

"I got us onto the carriage. Distraction is your forté."

Shepard wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm. "Got it."

* * *

That afternoon, Yennefer as well as her 'guards' stood in the wake of a funeral. As they watched the fallen king get carried through the crowd and placed on a boat, a burly older looking pale man with white hair and bright orange eyes approached Yennefer from behind. It was clear that they'd known each other by their smiles and quiet exchanges of words.

"Psst, Sam. You see that guy."

"Yeah, what about him? They must know each other."

"Not that. Doesn't he kind of look like the girl in the picture?"

"My goodness, he does. You think they might be related?"

"I don't know, but keeping an eye on him couldn't hurt."

The funeral continued. They watched as a young red haired woman, tears filling her eyes, climbed onto the boat with the King's body. Whispers filled the crowd mentioning the "mistress" and reasons why the Queen chose not to sail away with her King. As the boat sailed into the middle of the ocean, a flaming arrow was released toward it, setting it ablaze. The sound of a horn rang through the town.

"That woman is just totally fine with being burned alive," Shepard whispered to Traynor.

"Shh, Shepard. It's considered an honor here to be burned alive with the one you love."

"Well that's stupid," Shepard scoffed, crossing her arms.

Once the procession was over, Shepard and Traynor met back up with Yennefer while she was conversing with the pale man.

"So, now that the- I'm sorry, were we interrupting something," Traynor asked, having clearly intruded upon their conversation.

"I'm assuming the question was rhetorical?"

"Right, right. Just wanted to know if you needed anything. We also haven't had the pleasure of meeting your handsome friend here."

"You seem a bit prying for merely being extra protection."

"Yen, be nice," the burly man pleaded.

"Fine. Guards, this is Geralt. Geralt, these are guards."

"A pleasure to meet you. These guards have a name?"

"Samantha."

"Shepard."

"See, all friends here. Now, you two make do somewhere else for now. We'll meet back up at the wake."

Geralt and Yennefer locked arms as they made their exit.

"No wonder everyone thought her and Miranda were the same person. Anyway, where's the booze around here? What kind of funeral has no booze?"

"I'm sure there'll be plenty at the wake. We should get dressed for it and in the meantime check on... you know who."

* * *

Shepard and Traynor made sure the coast was clear before entering Yennefer's quarters.

"Psst, Miranda, you in here?"

Shepard elbowed Traynor. "She's not going to hear you if you do that. MIRANDA ARE YOU STILL IN THE CLOSET?"

Miranda exited the closet, a glass of wine in her hand.

"I could hear you just fine the first time when you whispered. Remember, we're trying to be discreet here, Shepard."

"Discreet? It looks to me like you made yourself right at home. See, you left two bottles of wine just laying there on the dresser."

"Shepard, that was you."

"Oh, right. Anyway, the plan's going good so far. We've obtained the target, and we got invited to a party."

"It's not a party, it's a wake."

"There's booze. It's a party. So Miranda, is it time for you to take a big spoonful of 'Shepard was right' yet?"

"We still don't know where our main target is. And shouldn't you two be keeping an eye on Yennefer? She could come in here at any-" before she could finish her sentence, they could hear the creak of a door. Their eyes widened as they rushed into the closet.

Yennefer lit a lamp in her room, closed the door, and undressed herself. Traynor peeked out of the crack in the closet door to see what was going on.

"What's she doing," Shepard asked.

"She's ooohh she's undresssing. That looks... pretty nice, actually."

"Is she doing _anything_ else?"

"She's just... in her under garments. And she's... oh she's sitting at a desk, she's opening something... applying it to the skin... and she's looking for something. She looks confused."

"Where in the world are my gooseberries?"

Shepard's stomach gurgled.

"Oh, is that what those were?"

"Ssshh.. she's standing up. She's walking toward the closet. She's- oh my goodness, hide."

They all retreated to different corners of the closet.

Yennefer entered and sifted through the different dressings, all of which had little variation between them. She picked one off the rack, inspected it carefully, and put it back, continuing this process for the next few outfits. She settled on the one she'd picked up the first time, and put it on. She then made her way out of the room.

"Phew, that was a close one. Am I right guys." Shepard lifted her hand waiting for someone to high five her. They both gave her angry looks. "Hey, don't get mad at me. We're all still alive."

"That was just too close for our own goods. You two should get out of here and prepare for the party. I'll stay here and wait until you come back. If anything happens, I'll just have to make do."

"Gotcha. Let's get out of here, Sam."

* * *

Shepard and Traynor entered the wake and saw Yennefer sitting at a table alone waiting for Geralt. They took it as an opportune time to attempt to pry information out of her. They joined her, sitting on the opposite side of the table. Shepard grabbed a cup of mead as soon as she did.

"Yennefer, right. You remember us? Shepard, Sam?"

"I do. You're my 'extra protection'."

"You do remember us! Look, while you're waiting for your boyfriend or husband or whatever, how about we have a few drinks. Get to know each other."

"I don't plan on drinking tonight."

"Ugh. You always this much of a party pooper?"

"Excuse me?"

"What Shepard MEANT to say was maybe this is a good time for all of us to relax. We have a few drinks, maybe even make this a lady's night. It's what the fallen King, rest his soul, would've wanted. He'd want us to all enjoy ourselves."

Yennefer's eyes shifted between the two of them.

"Geralt is taking quite a while. I'm sure one drink couldn't hurt."

"That's what I'm talking about." Shepard raised her cup in the air. "TO THE KING!"

Everyone at the wake, including Yennefer raised their cups in unison as a response.

"TO THE KING!"

* * *

Miranda waited in the closet reading a book titled "The Poisoned Source" as she sipped a glass of wine. She could hear the door creak open once again followed by the sound of someone sifting around the room. She hurriedly dropped the book as she tried to retreat deeper into the closet.

Geralt, who was getting dressed in formal clothes could hear noises coming from the closet. He sniffed the air.

"Someone's in here. Can't be Yen. Don't smell Gooseberries or Lilac. Smells more like... a perfume. But nothing familiar to me."

Geralt crept toward the closet as he continued to sniff around.

"I know you're in here."

Just as he was slowly opening the door, Miranda burst out of the closet in her underwear, ambushing a half dressed Geralt.

"Who are-"

She put a finger to his lips.

"Shh... I've been waiting for you you," she eyed his scarred, yet toned, torso and unshaven face, which looked to her to be wrought with flees. "You handsome, handsome man."

He shoved her back. "I don't know who you are, but I'm calling the-"

"You'll do no such thing." She closed the door using her biotics and pushed Geralt onto Yennefer's bed, crawling on top of him. "As I said, I've been waiting for you to... make love to me."

Geralt gasped. "You must be a sorceress. My only weakness!"

"Tonight, I'm whatever you want me to be," she seduced.

He ended up giving in to his desires, making love to Miranda on Yennefer's bed.


	4. The Wake and The Really Cool Mask

An hour into the wake, Shepard, Traynor, and Yennefer had been more than enough drinks in to completely forget that Geralt hadn't showed up yet. They passed the time waiting for him by playing Gwent and making light conversation.

Yennefer slammed her fist on the table. "Dammit! How in the world did you get so good at this?"

Traynor laughed. "I'm a natural when it comes to strategy games. Although card games are fun, I personally prefer chess."

"Remind me to never challenge you to a game of chess." She finished with a giggle, spilling some of her drink onto her blouse.

Just then, Geralt showed up to join the group. He looked sweaty and nervous.

"Geralt, how nice to see you. I was just talking to my friends about how I longed for your presence by my side."

"Yen, are you drunk?"

She gasped at the insinuation. "Maybe I had a few drinks, but what of it?"

"We agreed-"

"And you agreed you'd be on time. If you had been it's likely none of this would have ever happened."

He shook his head. "Forget I said anything. So, what have you all been talking about?"

Traynor put her cup down. "I was asking our lovely Yennefer here about your relationship."

"Oh, really? And what did she say?"

"I told them you're a shining beacon of everything I've ever wanted in a man." She planted a kiss on his cheek.

"You flatter me."

"How adorable. I get the feeling you two have been together for while. Any... children?"

Geralt looked down at the table. "We've a daughter. Names Ciri."

"Really? And which one of you does she take after more?"

Yennefer swirled her drink. "She's not our biological daughter, but she does take after Geralt in looks and in... mannerisms."

"She definitely takes more after you in sass. That's for sure."

"Looks like you, huh? Ashen hair? Green eyes?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

Shepard and Traynor exchanged glances. "Think I ran by her on the trail once. Beautiful young lady." Traynor sipped at her drink suspiciously. "So, when was the last time you've seen her?"

Yennefer glanced at Geralt and nodded. "Speaking of which, Geralt and I ought to be going. It was lovely sharing drinks with the two of you."

"W-w-wait! Maybe we should come along. I mean you're a little intoxicated and could possibly use a hand!"

"We should be-"

Shepard quickly shot up. "We insist."

Shepard and Yennefer locked eyes for a moment before Geralt broke the silence.

"They're most likely completely oblivious of the situation. Maybe they could give us a hand. Besides, haven't had to deal with you intoxicated in a while. Don't know what to expect."

"And you think witnesses might be necessary?"

"Don't know, will they?"

Yennefer rolled her eyes at Geralt and let out a groan. "Fine. But we must make haste. Let's go, now."

They removed themselves from the table before making a stealthy escape from the wake.

* * *

They travelled down the stairs and towards the basement where Ermion's lab was located, Yennefer stumbling the whole way.

"Ermion's lab can't be far from here. We must be very quiet."

"I get the feeling we weren't invited."

"That's because we haven't been."

They travelled down the hallway and turned a corner where Yennefer happened to bump into a curtain. She began flailing madly in an attempt to escape. Geralt grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Yen, you sure you're okay?"

"I'm *hic* fine, Geralt. Just let me lean on your shoulder a bit."

She clung to him as the group continued on. They eventually ran into a room full of taxidermied animals. Shepard was the first to notice a cloud of green smoke penetrating the center of the room.

"Hey anyone else feel a little-" her pupils grew and she began stumbling around the room. Geralt began to cough.

"The animals! Look out, they're alive!"

Geralt began swinging his sword around the room as Traynor pulled Shepard back to the side, saliva oozing from her mouth as she laughed maniacally. Yennefer fell to the ground in a giggle fit before deciding to use a spell to calm them both. Once Geralt had awoken he looked around the room in confusion.

"What the hell happened?"

"You were hallucinating, sword flailing. I had to calm you. Your years at Kaer Morhen finally paid off. Bested nearly all the stuffed beasts in here!"

"Please." Geralt turned to face Shepard. "She okay?"

Shepard was crouched in the corner holding her head. Traynor reached for her hand.

"Come on, Shepard." Traynor helped her up and Yennefer led them to the next area, a room full of artifacts.

"Wow, these are very interesting," Traynor noted, toying with something she'd found on one of the desks.

"We need to- *hic- to find the mask, Geralt." Yennefer, attempting to cross to the opposite side of the room, accidentally stumbled and knocked over a vase, releasing a Pesta that shrieked before disappearing.

"Yen, you should sit down."

"Please, Geralt. The vase can be fixed with a bit of magic." She shrugged. "Don't know what to do about the Pesta that escaped from it, though. What are Witchers for anyway?"

She placed a hand on Geralt's shoulder and he pushed her hand away, making his way across the room stopping at a familiar carving.

"A goat carved out of Linden wood, signed: To Uncle Ermion."

"Little Ciri's handiwork. That's what she used to call him when he was her tutor," Yennefer mentioned, adoringly.

Shepard poured herself a cup of mead and picked up a pipe off a table and started smoking from it. "She must've been a-*belch*- a little kid when she made that. The handiwork is pretty *hic* pretty poor for an adult." She puffed from the pipe. Yennefer eyed her evilly.

Geralt, ignoring the comment, made his way over to a statue with its hand out.

"Hmm, looks like Ermion places something in its hand. How about we give it a pine cone."

Nothing happened.

"Didn't work. How about a skull?"

Again, nothing.

Shepard intruded upon his bout of contemplation.

"Doesn't that seem too *hic* too obvious? A mage with a hidden room? It probably wants a blood sacrifice. Just gimme *hic* gimme a second." Shepard took a sip from her mug and placed it in the statue's hand. A panel in the wall moved to reveal a hidden room.

"Shit, guess I was wrong."

"Come, the mask should be in here."

They followed Yennefer into the room where, low and behold, the mask was floating at the end of it.

"Wow, that's a really cool mask. Maybe when this is all over I can buy it and wear it around for fun and scare little kids," Shepard joked.

"I highly doubt the mask is for sale. Come."

Yennefer tiptoed over to it before snatching it out of the air.

"We've got it! We must go, quickly, before-" the activity had awoken an elemental. Shepard and Traynor stood there doing nothing while Geralt and Yennefer took it down. Once it was dealt with, a noxious gas filled the room.

"Yen, get us out of here!"

"Okay. Everyone hold hands. Someone, think of something, quickly!"

* * *

A split second later, they were all back at the wake.

"I knew thinking of mead would work! Let's finish what we started." Shepard took a cup of mead from someone's hand and chugged it, then started dancing, doing her signature "Shepard Shuffle".

"I don't see why I shouldn't continue enjoying myself. Come, Geralt. Let's dance."

"Mm... I'm not really a good dancer."

"Please, Geralt. For me?"

He shrugged as Yennefer pulled him to the center of the room and started dancing. Traynor joined Shepard and they all danced the night away.

* * *

Hours after the party had ended Shepard was face planted at a table, snoring away. She was awoken by a tap on the shoulder. With blurry vision, she turned to see Geralt's annoyed expression and Traynor standing behind him.

"Let's go," Geralt demanded.

"Wha-what are we going to... what's happening?"

"We need to speak with the Jarl. Your friend here urged that we not leave you behind. Been trying to get you up for the past 15 minutes."

"Just knock me over the head next time." She peeled herself away from the table and followed Geralt and Traynor to where they were meeting the Jarl. Yennefer was already there.

"There's been a magical anomaly in Ard Skellig. We believe it to be somehow connected with Ciri."

"You have not yet found her?"

"I would, but Ermion continues to halt my investigation."

"I'll talk to the old Druid. You go retrieve your Cirilla."

Yennefer nodded.

"Geralt, we must make haste. Guards, let's go."

Shepard grinned mischievously. "Lead the way, madam."

* * *

The group made their way to the island near Ard Skellig and Yennefer pulled out the mask. Just as she was going to explain the plan, she was halted by Ermion.

"Stop right there, thief! You can't use that mask!"

"What's the problem here," Shepard asked.

"I am here to inform everyone in the isles that Yennefer of Vengerberg is a common thief!"

"Ermion, I'm not stealing the mask. I am merely borrowing it for an important purpose, at which point I will return it."

"Bah! There'll be no use. The mask is only able to be used one time. Uroboros never used it, and for good reason. He wanted to use it, but he knew of the consequences, which was why he waited. Waited so long that his longing became unbearable. He knew using it would cause the skies to part, the seas to rise, thunderstorms, destruction of-"

Shepard cut him off by punching him in the face and knocking him out.

"What in the world did you do that for," Geralt questioned.

"Did anyone really care about what he had to say? Would hearing him out have swayed your opinion in any way?"

Geralt thought for a bit before deciding in his mind that even if he didn't want to do it, Yennefer would have done it, anyway, and listening to his story would have been a huge waste of time. Besides, he'd recover from a simple punch. With that thought, Geralt shrugged.

"Exactly. Now, are you ready to find Ciri or what?"

Yennefer smirked and nodded before leading them to the forest.


	5. The Trillions of Lives at Stake

The four of them, Geralt, Yennefer, Shepard, and Traynor stood in the middle of the forest. Lightning cracked the sky as Yennefer held the mask in the air.

"Geralt, you need to put the mask on if we are to learn of Ciri's whereabouts. I will cast a spell that allows me to see through your eyes."

"Planning on reading my mind, again?"

"Do you have a problem with it?"

"In fact, I do."

"Well then maybe-"

Shepard cleared her throat annoyingly to get their attention.

"Just let me wear the mask. You can try reading my mind if you want, but you're probably not going to understand a thing I'm thinking about."

Yennefer rolled her eyes at Geralt, irritated that he wouldn't just simply follow directions and that her "bodyguard" had to supplement for him.

"That'll have to do, I suppose. Here, put on the mask."

Shepard took hold of it and placed it on her face. "What now?"

"Telekinesis has a very short range, so you will have to stay close. I'll guide you along."

Shepard stumbled along the wood line as if she were wearing drunk glasses. "Wow, this is a total trip. So, what am I- WOAH what is this?"

Two misty green figures emerged from a portal in a scene from the past.

"Two people. One must've been Ciri. We must be on the right track. Come."

They continued on and stumbled upon the scene of a magical explosion. Even though it wasn't real, Shepard still tumbled to the ground as if it were.

"WHAT THE HELL-"

"I reckon that was the magical explosion that destroyed the forest. So powerful even it's echo was dangerous, yet Ciri and her companion escaped unharmed." Yennefer helped Shepard up and nudged her forward. "We must keep moving."

What they came upon next was a scene of Ciri being attacked by someone and escaping, wounded, through a portal.

"Did she just-"

"Escape through another portal. That's what it looks like to me. The residue says the trail leads to..." Yennefer waved her hands in the air doing what Shepard referred to as her "magical sorceress thing". "Velen."

"Well where did the other guy go?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure I can find out. Come"

The next echo from the past was a scene of someone repelling another with a magical attack, and then escaping through a portal.

"I figure Ciri's companion must've been a mage. Come, our work here is done."

* * *

As they exited the forest, they were met with Ermion's fury.

"DO YOU PEOPLE REALIZE WHAT YOU"VE DONE?!"

"Relax, old man," Shepard stated, waving him off. "Looks to me like you've got everything under control."

"For now! But what about a week or a month from now? Do you know what you've started."

Yennefer butted in. "It's fine, Ermion. You can have the mask back."

"Bah! It's worthless, an unwieldy ashtray at best. I hope you learned something useful at least."

"Very."

"I'm talking to the red head who wields the mask, I'll deal with you later. So?"

"I think Yennefer found out where Curry is hiding," Shepard answered as she dug into her ear, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

"Who?"

"Hold on a second, we just need to examine one more thing." Geralt led them to a nearby collapsed tree. "Yennefer, you think you can-"

"I can." She used her sorceress magic to lift the tree from the ground. Underneath, a strange set of armor covered in blood was unveiled.

Ermion leaned in to examine. "Interesting craftsmanship. I've never seen anything like it."

"Probably because it belonged to a rider of the Wild Hunt," Geralt informed him.

Ermion nodded. "So it's true, the Wild Hunt. I feared as much. First here, then on Hindarsfjall. But what do they want?"

"They're here for Ciri."

"But, why?"

"Elder Blood flows in Ciri's veins."

"Ciri's powers are exceptional. She can travel between here and other worlds. Space is not an obstacle for her."

"Which is why the Wild Hunt wants to capture her. Speaking of which, you mentioned something happened on Hindarsfjall?"

"It happened at least a fortnight after the cataclysm on Ard Skellig. The wraiths-"

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, guys, this armor is-" Shepard paused her thought process and jumped into the pit where the Wild Hunt armor lay. She picked up each piece, examining it, and strapped them onto her person one by one. "Wow, fits like a glove." She strutted around. "Hey, everyone, check out my new armor!"

"What are you doing?" Yennefer crossed her arms and brooded in Shepard's direction.

"Clearly I'm using the enemies weapons against them, like a smart person would. Check it out." Shepard flexed in her new heavy metal armor. "Thanks Erm man, you really helped us out!"

"Erm what?"

"You should go." Shepard waved him off.

He scoffed and wandered away, muttering something under his breath.

Geralt ignored the situation and continued on with the conversation. "Next stop, Hindarsfjall."

"My bodyguards and I will meet you on the beach near Lofoten."

"Can't we all go together, now?"

"But you despise being teleported."

"Well it doesn't look like he despises it, today. Come on, everyone. Up, up, and aw-"

"But before we go, Shepard, I have something I would like to ask you about."

Shepard, who was pointing a finger in the air as she began with her phrase, slowly lowered her arm and faced Yennefer. "What is it?"

"I was reading your mind and I noticed some peculiar thoughts running through it."

A small drop of sweat appeared on Shepard's forehead, which she quickly wiped away. "Such as?"

"Why are you searching for Ciri? I should've known that random so called 'bodyguards sent by the Jarl' were to good to be true."

"You're searching for Ciri, too? Why?"

Geralt and Yennefer both began to close in on Shepard as they awaited a reply.

"I-I just- I'm working in her best interest."

"Then what is this thing you refer to as the catalyst?"

"What?"

"If I were to recite your thoughts exactly they'd probably go a little something like 'I wish this whole situation was done with so I could find this Ciri girl and activate the Catalyst already.'"

"Pfft, I'd never think anything like that. That's way too intelligent."

"Shepard, I'm telling her the truth."

"Shut your damn mouth, Traynor. If you say anything they won't even believe us and the sorceress witch will probably kill us!"

"Witch!?"

"Ma'am, please listen to us." Traynor cleared her throat. "So you know that Ciri can travel between worlds, which means that you know that travelling between worlds is possible. We're from another world, a galaxy called the Milky Way. In this galaxy, us humans have evolved so far that we have running water, this thing called electricity, and these things called spaceships. They're like horse carriages, except they're really large, large enough to fit hundreds of people, sometimes even thousands, and they're made of metal, and they can fly."

Yennefer breathed hard through her nose. "Please get to the point."

"Well, we took a spaceship, and a few other intelligent species, and we used a large amount of energy to propel us from our world to this one. We can't return to our world unless we find Ciri. Our galaxy faces destruction and there's a device that she has the power to activate. So if we don't find her, trillions of lives are at stake. So, please, let us help."

There was a long pause while Geralt and Yennefer looked between themselves and the two that stood before them. Finally Yennefer gave her answer.

"Let's say we believe you and you double cross us, then what?"

"Then I supposed you have the right to kill us both."

"Wait, Yen. We should let them stick around for now."

"Geralt-"

"We could use the extra help, plus if they have ill intent then we can get rid of them pretty quickly. It's nothing a Witcher and a sorceress can't handle."

Yennefer took a deep breath and put her head down. "Fine, Geralt. But if this goes south then we'll know who to thank for being too trusting of shady individuals."

"Thank you, madam. You won't regret this."

Shepard let out a sigh a relief.

"Let us go, now."

They all held onto Yennefer as she teleported them from the forest to Hindarsfjall.


	6. The Fat Virgin

The group of four arrived in Hindarsfjall. As they walked further into the town, they came upon a group of villagers, young and old, who appeared to be mourning.

"What's going on here," Shepard asked.

The oldest woman of the group, wiping away tears, was the first to respond. "They... so many of them're gone, now."

"Okay. Have you seen a young woman with gray hair around here?"

A younger woman spoke up. "I don't think I've seen anyone like that. But then again, I've buried so many."

"No, this one's still alive. I know it," Geralt interjected.

"Wait, did she have a scar on er cheek?"

"Yeah, just like that."

"I think I saw someone like that near the stables with Sk-Craven, before the attack."

"And where can we find this 'Craven'?"

"He went to fight Morkvarg in the garden. Hasn't been back since."

"He's a traitor," a younger woman shouted unnecessarily.

Shepard just shook her head, annoyed. "We're going to take a look at the garden if you don't mind."

"We do mind."

"We're going anyway."

"Ye can't enter the garden without leavin' an offerin' at the tree."

"An offering? Like gold or meat?"

"Blood," Yennefer answered. "I think we know what to do now. Thank you."

The four of them moved away from the group and continued towards the garden.

They came upon the tree at the garden's entrance. Shepard then took Geralt's sword and cut her hand with it without even wincing. She squeezed out more than enough blood and slathered her hand upon the trunk.

"That should do it."

Yennerfer shot her a perturbed glance.

"I do this a lot, especially at bars." She looked between the other three. "How about this, I take Geralt and we look for this so called 'beast'. You and Traynor should look for Craven."

Geralt shrugged. "Fine with me. Yen?"

She nodded.

"Good, we're in agreement. Let's go, Witcher."

Shepard and Geralt followed the trail of blood that led to a shack.

"Must be in here. I can smell him."

As they were going to enter, they were blown back by a blue blast of energy that shot from the cave. Shepard quickly recovered and ran inside, finding a woman with dark hair that she thought was Yennefer at first, standing over what appeared to be a werewolf. When she turned around, it was clear who she really was.

"M-Miranda? What the- how did you get here?"

Angered, she threw Shepard backwards with her biotics.

"You LEFT me in there! Do you know what I had to do? I had to sleep with that disgusting old man who was wrought with flees!"

"Disgusting old man," Geralt repeated, standing in the cave's entrance and dusting off the dirt on his armor. "And here I was thinking we shared quite the night together."

"You-"

"But, how did you get here so fast? We teleported."

"Well how about I describe it to you. It all started when...," Miranda looked toward the sky as the air grew misty.

 _Once the Witcher took his leave, Miranda quickly put her clothes back on and shot up out of the bed. She could hear the noise of the party going on downstairs. When she peeked out the window, she could see people dancing, laughing, drinking, and just having a generally good time. She wondered how long Shepard was planning on leaving here there. That's when Miranda remembered who she was dealing with, remembering the time she asked her to help her with a situation involving her sister, to which Shepard took two weeks to reply, almost missing the opportunity. Shepard could be quite forgetful, and Miranda knew it. She devised a plan to get out of the castle on her own and acted. Sneaking out of the castle, she came upon a stable full of horses. Having learned how to ride horseback as a young teen, lessons which her wealthy father gladly paid for, she stole one and rode off into the night amidst the festivities. By the time dawn was approaching, she found herself at the mouth of the ocean. She hopped off the horse and stole a boat from a fisherman who was sleeping nearby. She sailed until she reached an island with a beautiful garden which she could see from a distance. Not wanting to be caught by any on the townsfolk, she snuck into the garden and took a nap under a beautiful tree. She awoke to a predator, a werewolf, standing over her, mouth drooling. It tried to attack, yet she shot it back with biotics, causing it to scurry off into a shed with the door ripped off and tossed to the side..._

"And that's where you came in."

"Wait, you slept with Geralt," Shepard laughed, trying to conceal her amusement to not annoy Miranda even more.

"Don't ever talk about that again."

"But aren't you with Yennefer?"

"Mm- It's a.. complicated situation, me and Yen."

Shepard shook her head.

"Miranda, we need your help. We're trying to-"

"Oh no no no. I'm through with your plans. They've done nothing but put me in horrid positions. I'm through with this. I'm going back to the ship."

"Miranda, you can't. We're so close to finding Carrie!"

"Ahem, it's Ciri."

"SHUT UP," they shouted at Geralt, in unison.

Miranda sighed. "Well then fine. If this goes wrong, I'm leaving. What do we need to do?"

"We're looking for a guy that came through here."

"I haven't seen anyone since I've been here. Let's look around."

The three of them together searched the garden. Geralt, following Craven's scent, came upon a well. Shepard looked at him.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to jump in?"

He crossed his arms, defiantly. "No reason why you can't."

"Fine, we'll all jump in together."

"Me too? Why do I have to go?"

"Miranda, you can literally float. You could get out of the well easier than any of us, but we're being the nice one's and going with you."

"Fine."

They all jumped down the well, Geralt continuing to follow the scent's path. At the end of the well, they came upon the body the one and only 'Craven'."

"Yen, can you hear me?"

"Geralt? You scared me. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah, I think I found Craven."

"And?"

"I've seen Drowners in better condition."

"Shit. Bring the body up here."

"He's dead, Yen."

"Just bring him up here. I've an idea."

"Fine. Think you two can help me carry the body?"

Shepard just looked at Miranda.

"Fine."

She used her biotics to lift Craven out of the well.

"Good you're all back. Wait, and who might this be?"

Shepard pointed to the body. "This is Craven, I think."

"Not that, you. The woman standing there in my clothes."

"Yennefer, those aren't your clothes. I think you two go to the same tailor. But this is-"

"I know Lilac and Gooseberries when I smell it. Besides, I'm asking the woman."

"Miranda."

"When did.."

"Your lovely friends here found me in the garden. They're the ones who saved me from that wretched beast," Miranda added with a bit of snark.

"And I know a lie when I hear one." She looked at Geralt. "Do you know her?"

"Ahem," Shepard interrupted. "The body."

"Right. We'll return to this matter later." She inspected Craven carefully, prying his jaw open and looking into his throat.

"Hmm, putrifaction has set it, but the vocal chords are still intact."

"Wait, Yen you don't plan on-"

"But I do."

"But Black Magic is dangerous. Using it never ends well."

"What does she plan on doing?"

"You'll see."

"Yen, you should really think about the con-"

"Be quiet, Geralt. Please. I need to focus."

She raised her hand toward the body and closed her eyes.

"Celain, celain, deffraen. Celain, celain, davedar!"

"Pfft, this isn't going to work," Shepard scoffed.

The body jolted upwards onto it's knees.

"Aaaaaaccchhhhh!"

"Are you Craven of Lofoten?"

"Nnnnooooooo... I-I-I'vveee aaa nnnaaammmmeee...Iiii Ittt'ssss Skkkkjaaaaalll..."

"We're looking for Ciri. Ashen hair, green eyes. Have you seen her?"

"Shhheeeeeee'ss wh whyyyyy thhheeyyy currrreeesssed mmme me meeee..."

"I don't care about that! What happened to her? What was she doing here? Speak!"

"Nnnnoooooo"

"Speak!"

"Sssshhh shheeeee feeeelllllll... ALLLLMOSSSTTT DR DROOOOWWWWNNEDDD!"

The air faded into a foggy mist...

 _It was a lovely day on the shore of Lofoten where Skjall, the fat virgin dressed as a clown, waded in the waters, probably looking for food. It was his lucky day! He found a delicious baby mudcrab, those foul creatures, crawling on a rock near the shore. He took it into the palm of his hand. Just as he was to stab it with his knife the sound of a blast shook him, causing him to drop his tasty treat. He turned around and found approaching him a man in a fancily crafted mask, holding in his hands the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life, granted most of the women he knew were close relatives. He cradled her in his arms as if she were a delicately wrapped present, delivered directly to Skjall himself._

 _"Help us, help us both."_

 _Skjall led the masked man holding the woman to his family's hut. He let him lay her on the bed. His bed. A bed that would undoubtedly rinse itself in the woman's scent. He wouldn't wash it for ages after that. The masked man whispered to her to meet him at drowned dead rock then, swiftly and fashionably, made his exit._

 _Once he was gone, Skjall could finally watch her in privacy. He could see that is bed sheets were being stained with blood. Her blood! He had to inspect. He carefully flipped her over and removed her armor when his mother and sister stepped in, interrupting his session._

 _"Skjall, leave the little girly alone. If she's wounds that tendin' we'll handle it. This is no place for a sad virgin like you!"_

 _"Astrid, I weren't doin anythin. Leave me be."_

 _"Skjall, yer sister's right. Go on now, boy. We'll handle it."_

 _Sulking, the man left the room and allowed his mother and sister to handle the business. Once they were done, he snuck back into the room, sitting at the woman's bedside, gazing at her in adoration. Soon enough she awoke._

 _"Mhm, where am I? And who are you?"_

 _"You're on Hindarsfjall. They call me Skjall."_

 _"But, how'd I- what?"_

 _"We fished you outta the sea. Me and that friend a yers."_

 _"H-help help me stand."_

 _Skjall gently helped her up as if she were a fancy toppled vase._

 _"I really don't think you should-"_

 _"Less talk, more giving me a hand."_

 _"Ahhh that's me brother for ya. Outta sight for a second and he's already put his paws on a girl."_

 _"Astrid yer dim as dishwater, you know I was only helpin her up."_

 _"Shame, but I've got to interrupt yer courtship. Come, we're off to the sauna."_

 _"Sauna? But I really don't have the time." Ciri looked around the room. "Where are my clothes."_

 _"They're with the washer. Now come, girl. Let's get you off to the sauna. It'll do ya some good."_

 _"Thank you, but I really need to get to Drowned Dead Rock."_

 _"It's a ways off. Skjall'll ready a horse fer ya. In the mean time, sauna."_

 _"Fine, that'll do. Thank you all, very much."_

 _"Pssht, there's no need. C'mon."_

 _Ciri followed the girl to the sauna where she was instructed to remove her clothing before entering. She obliged. What she came into when she entered was a sight to see. A young woman with a perfect body and ample bosom, as well as her mother, an old hag with tits flopping all about. Ciri, disgusted, but not wanting to admit it, faced away from the older woman, intent on looking into the steaming coals, which she dreamed of placing into her eye sockets after a sight such as that._

 _"What's that on yer thigh, child? That a bruise?"_

 _"This? No, it's a tattoo."_

 _"What's it mean," the younger woman inquired._

 _"It's for someone special, who's dead now."_

 _"I can see it now, you wanderin around with a band of miscreants killin and stealin from folk. You and one of em get together behind all the others back's, fallin in love, walkin the shore hand in hand. The two of you secretly gettin matchin tattoos. The last thing you remember is seein em beheaded, but now, all you go to remember em by is a tattoo of a rose. A symbol of the love you once had."_

 _Ciri's mouth hung open in shock._

 _"That... might be close."_

 _"Of course I were. I'm pretty good at guessin these things..."_

 _"Here we go, gabbin away. Steams gone, gotta douse the coals."_

 _The old hag stood and poured water over the hot coals, fogging the room with steam._

 _"Say back home... have you got saunas too?"_

 _"You know I don't really have a home. I'm a traveler."_

 _"Oh that's right, where was your ship headed?"_

 _"Ship?"_

 _"We fished ya outta the sea. Assumed you were in a shipwreck."_

 _"Oh yea, my ship. We set sail for Novigrad."_

 _"And what brings you to Skellige?"_

 _"I'm here looking for someone."_

 _"Not your betrothed I hope."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"It'd break Skjall's heart."_

 _"Astrid, I told you not to say anythin."_

 _"Ooops, milk's spilt. Now tell me, do you fancy Skjall?"_

 _"Oh, Skjall? Why he's the most handsome, bravest man I've ever-_

"DON'T LIE TO ME YOU STUPID BEAST!"

"FF-FF-FFIIIIIINNNEEEEEE... SHHEEEE SAAAIIIIDDDD-

 _"Well, actually, I prefer women."_

 _"Really?"_

 _Ciri and Astrid stared at each other adoringly for a few seconds before the older woman interrupted them by clearing her throat._

 _"Right. I should get going now. Thank you both very much."_

 _"Ahh girl, it was nothin. Don't forget to take a dip in the pool and a drink of Freya's. It'll do ya some good."_

 _"Of course."_

 _Once all was said and done, Ciri had dressed herself and met up with Skjall at the stables._

 _"The horse're ready. You can take that one. She's a little older, but she'll make it, surely."_

 _"Thank you."_

 _"Oh, just one thing. My mother and sister, they didn't talk any nonsense into yer head did they?"_

 _"Of course not, except to mention that you fancy me."_

 _"What... but I... I mean.. and you're so... ahh forget it. You should probably get goin."_

 _She looked at the fat heartbroken virgin with such pity. How could she just leave him like that? Today was the day she decided she'd take one for the team. She grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Skjall was riddled with surprise, yet emboldened at the same time. It was almost as if he could feel hair growing on his chest just right then._

 _"That was your first kiss, wasn't it?"_

 _"Course it weren't."_

 _She eyed him with assured disbelief._

 _"Aye, it were."_

 _"I think I might have a bit of time to teach you a few things."_

 _"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES," the two could hear from inside the stables._

 _"Grab the horse, I'll protect you-"_

 _"I can handle myself."_

 _Ciri dashed out of the stable, flying through the wraiths and slicing them with the utmost precision. Skjall, holding a scythe, stayed as close to her as possible, trying to make it appear as though he were the one protecting her. The two of them straddled the horses and rode toward Drowned Dead Rock._ _Skjall was knocked off of his by one of the red riders. He could see Ciri arguing with the masked man, then him knocking her out cold with a spell, laying her in the boat and sailing off._

 _Shortly after, he fell unconscious._

 _Once he awoke, the last image he remembered on the beach that day was one of an ugly little creature, one big eye, one small eye, and covered in boils, limping away from him._

"What became of that creature?"

"SSSTTTTTOPPPPPP... HHUU HUUUUURRTTSSSSSS."

"WHAT?"

"SS SSAAAWWW HIMM AT DD DD DOOOONAAAARRRRSSSSS... BUT... BUUTTT HEE SSS SSSSOOOLLD HIIIIIIMM!"

"TO WHOM?!"

"DDD DOOOONN'TT KKKNNN OOOOOWWWWW"

"Begone."

"AAAaaahhhhhhHHH..."

"BEGONE I SAY!"

"AAAACHH AAAHH AHHHACCHHHHHHH!"

The body of Skjall returned to the dead. Yennefer turned around to the horrified faces of Shepard, Traynor, and Miranda.

"What?"

Shepard shook her head. "That was... uhhh... kind of fucked up to watch."

Traynor looked around. "Graces, what happened to the forest? Everything's..."

"Dead, I know. That magic required a great deal of energy."

The group was soon ambushed by the angered inhabitants of the village.

"What happened to our garden?"

"Sorry," Geralt apologized.

"Sorry? That's all ya have to say for yerself?"

"How could you do this to us?"

"It was me," Shepard growled. "I destroyed your garden."

"You what?"

"Shepard, don't," Yennefer pleaded.

"Hush, you. Turns out I'm an evil sorceress who can do black magic stuff, so it's a good thing I was on my way out, anyway. If any of you lays a finger on me or my friends, I'll turn you into bottles of bourbon and drink you like that," she finished, snapping her fingers.

"Fine. But no one here shall open their door to you. None shall tend to you wounds. None shall feed you or give you drink. Begone from this place!"

The crowd took their leave.

"Shepard, you really didn't have to do that."

"It's fine. A lot of people hate me." She pointed to her face. "See these facial scars? Apparently I got em because I'm prone to making decisions where the bad outweighs the good. Also because I have cybernetic implants, but that's another story."

"Well, thank you, anyway. Come on, everyone. We should leave."

As the group moved on, Geralt asked for a moment of Shepard's time.

"You know, Yen doesn't always thank people when they help her."

"Hmm.. she sounds a lot like Miranda in that way."

"Maybe, but what I'm getting at is that I think she might like you. She barely even likes me, and we've been together for twenty years. I wouldn't take that with a grain of salt. You did a good thing, some might even say something she didn't deserve. You're a good person, Shepard."

"You think so?" Shepard scratched her face. "Maybe. We should catch up with the others."

"Yeah, let's."


	7. The Trial of the Grasses

After the events that occurred on Hindarsfjall, Geralt and Yennefer sent Shepard, Miranda, and Traynor to Crow's Perch to obtain Uma, as they went elsewhere to handle some 'unfinished business', mentioning that they'd all catch up later. If they hadn't caught up with them at Crow's Perch, they would meet them in Vizima, with Uma, at the Emperor's palace. Upon arriving in Crow's Perch, they were instructed to meet with a Sergeant Ardle and take Uma away from him.

"You Ardle," Shepard asked.

"Yeah. What's your business with me?"

"I'm looking for some thing called Uman, I think."

"Uma," Miranda corrected.

"Yeah, that. I'm supposed to take him away."

"You wanna take 'im away? You gotta ask the Baron for that. Thing is, Baron ain't here."

"What do you mean he's not here?"

"He's dead. Hanged 'imself."

Shepard shook her head. "Unfortunate. I guess that means there's no one here to stop me from beating you to a pulp if you don't hand over the little goblin," Shepard finished, digging her finger into the man's chest.

"Fine, but bring 'im back, will ye? Be awful dull without 'im."

"We'll see."

The three of them were led to the barn where Uma was being held. When they opened it and saw him for the first time, Shepard was completely awestruck.

"What in the hell is that thing? This world just gets stranger by the minute."

"Aww," Traynor knelt down and pat it on the head. "When you really look at it, it's kind of cute. Come here little guy."

"Uuuummaaaaa. Uma uma, uma uma umaaa..." The creature drooled on Traynor a bit, as it repeated the same word. She somehow didn't notice the drool, and continued petting and staring at the creature in admiration.

"Can we please return to the task at hand. Let's grab the thing and get on the horses."

"Alright, alright. Come on, Traynor."

Traynor grabbed Uma's hand and gently placed him on the front of her horse. Once they were all ready, they made their way to the palace in Vizima.

Upon arrival, they were greeted by Geralt and Yennefer, who were already there.

"You all ready? Emperor's getting impatient."

"Yeah. What's his deal anyway?"

"Asked me to find Ciri a while ago. Haven't brought her back yet, or maybe.."

"Maybe what?"

"Yen will explain later. Come on."

Shepard grabbed a hold of Uma and followed Geralt to the Emperor's chambers.

Once inside, Geralt made sure of giving the Emperor a courtesy bow, with Uma following his lead. Shepard just stood there, staring blankly.

"I did not have you brought here for an exchange of courtesies, now report."

"No courtesies needed, good. But remember, I'm not your soldier, or dog, or page, so don't go around giving me orders."

As the Emperor opened his mouth to speak, Shepard cleared her throat loudly. Once she had everyone's attention, she pointed at Uma.

"That thing is Uma."

"Excuse me, but who do you happen to be?"

"Shepard. About the Uma thing... Geralt, go on.."

"Uhh right, this... thing, could be the key to finding Ciri."

The Emperor paced back and forth while vigorously shaking his head.

"I ask you to bring me my daughter and in her stead you bring me this... monstrosity."

"This monstrosity might well be your daughter."

"I give you three solid leads, you-"

"Listen Emperor... Sic Semper Tyranis," Shepard slurred, not knowing his name. "Geralt's been trying really hard to find your daughter. So hard even that he may or may not have enlisted the help of some people that may or may not be from another universe. You think this is easy? If this was easy you would've done it yourself. Now, I know that bringing this thing here seems like a setback to you, but we had to jump through quite a few hoops to make this all happen, and to get this far in general. So, the least you could do is let us see this through without the extra conversation or scolding. We're slightly pressed for time here."

The room fell silent as the Emperor stood still without speaking, and Yennefer and Geralt's mouths hung open, amazed that Shepard had said all of that without even batting an eye. It was clear that she had no clue whom she was dealing with, and even clearer that she hadn't cared.

"Fine," the Emperor finally responded. "Lift the curse from this... thing and report back to me with the results. Everyone get out."

Shepard bowed, incorrectly, and exited the room quicker than anyone else.

"I must say, I am quite surprised that your manner of speech worked out in our favor," Yennefer praised.

"No problem. Where are we headed to next?"

"Kaer Morhen. Yennefer says she has a plan to lift Uma's curse."

"I do. Unfortunately I am unable to teleport all of you there, so.."

"Could you at least teleport me there with you? I haven't had a drink in days."

"Fine, I can take one of you. The rest of you will have to ride on horseback."

"That's fine. Don't like teleports, anyway. I'll show the other two how to get there."

"I'll see you later, Geralt."

* * *

Some hours later, Geralt, Yennefer, and Traynor arrived at Kaer Morhen with Uma. Once they'd entered they found Shepard sitting at a table with Lambert playing a 'Never Have I Ever' drinking game.

"Never have I ever... slept with a non human."

"Aw, c'mon!" Shepard took a drink.

"Seriously? What was it? A bruxa? A Succubus?"

"Asari, Drell, Turian, Quarian, even a Hanar once."

"Hm. Never heard of those."

They clapped cups and both took a drink.

"See you're having fun," Geralt interrupted, seemingly amused at how quickly Lambert had found a friend in Shepard.

"Yeah! Met this guy when I got here, gave me some of his brew, now we're practically best friends."

"Seems a perfect fit to me. Where's Yen?"

"Upstairs somewhere. Gave me a task like I was her page or something, Shepard here helped me out with it, been drinkin' ever since."

"Yeah, we even killed a giant!"

"Rest in pieces, Old Speartip!"

They clapped mugs again and took another drink.

"Alright, my turn. Never have I ever... been a Witcher!"

"Not even fair!" He took a drink.

"I'll leave you two to it."

Geralt took his exit, leaving Miranda and Traynor behind.

"You two can join us if you'd like," Shepard invited, patting the seat next to her.

"Of course."

Traynor took a seat. Miranda, hesitantly followed her lead seating herself next to Lambert.

"We've been at this never have I ever thing for a while. How about a few rounds of Gwent?"

"Gwent?" Traynor was suddenly intrigued. "Tell me more."

An hour later, Geralt came back downstairs with Yennefer. He spoke to Vesemir for a while about Uma, then made his way to the table where everyone was sitting.

"Having fun, are we?"

"Damn it, three games in a row! I thought you never played before."

"I pick up on strategy games pretty well."

"Vesemir has something to say. We should all group up together, go over the plan."

"Yeah. Let's."

They all convened together with Yennefer taking the lead on the meeting.

"Now that everything is in place, Lambert, prepare the apparatuses, Eskel, go-"

"Last I heard, my dear, I gave the orders, not you."

"You said that we would do things my way."

"I said we would help you, that's it. What is this method of yours anyway?"

Yennefer crossed her arms and looked away.

"As I thought, which is why I believe that we should try another less invasive method."

Shepard raised her hand. "How long is this less invasive method going to take?"

"We'd be back by tomorrow morning."

"And Yennefer? How long would your method take?"

"About ten hours."

"And you can have everything prepared in a moment's notice?"

"Of course. Everything we need is already here."

"Seeing as we are pressed for time, I vote for Yennefer's method. Anyone else?"

"I second it," Miranda joined.

Traynor slowly raised her hand without speaking a word.

"What? This is outrageous! We're not voting on—"

"Look like you've been outvoted, old man. Yennefer, what's the plan."

She sighed before answering. "I plan to subject Uma to the Trial of the Grasses."

"What," all of the witchers exclaimed in unison.

"Why the hell would you do that?" Lambert seemed to be especially angry.

"I didn't even get to cast a vote," Eskel added.

"Everyone, just calm down. Yennefer, what do we need?"

"We already have the ingredients for the potions, now we just need the table. Vesemir?" She looked toward him.

He sighed. "I-I have it in the basement. If someone could give me a hand and—"

"I've got it." Miranda followed him downstairs, returning moments later using one hand to levitate it in the air using her biotics.

"I didn't know she was a sorceress." Lambert seemed somewhat angry at his false realization.

"I'm not." She set the table down neatly.

Shepard went to Uma and forcibly grabbed him as he squealed "Uma" over and over again. She placed him on the table and strapped him down.

"What now?"

"We need to brew the potions. Geralt, here are the formulae. Shepard, I'm not sure how familiar you are with medical equipment, but I need you to take a bottle of spirit and—"

"Don't mind if I do!"

"And disinfect the tools."

"Oh. Yeah, I can do that."

"Alright everyone, get to it, chop chop."

Once everything was prepared, everyone gathered around the table.

"Eskel, make the incisions in the veins."

He did so.

"Now, Geralt, administer the potions."

"Mm… something about this just doesn't feel right."

"It's too late now, Geralt. Please, administer the potions."

Hesitantly, he proceeded. As he did so, Uma screeched in terror. As the potions took their toll, Yennefer cast a spell and kept watch over Uma.

"What now?"

"Now we wait for the potions to do their work. Could take a day, maybe more."

"You need only wait, but I must maintain the stabilizing spell. Uma's body is not nearly as resilient as a young candidate witcher's. Without this he'd—"

He interrupted Yennefer's dialogue by projectile vomiting all over her as well as the floor.

"Would any of you mind—"

"Getting some rags? No problem." Eskel left the room to obtain something to wipe the floor with and Shepard followed.

They struck a conversation as they cleaned the floor.

"I just don't know about this."

"What's the problem? I'm not very familiar with the trial."

"If that's Ciri in there she could come out of this cripled, emotionless, wrong in the head, or worse."

"As long as she doesn't come out of it dead, I'm fine with that."

"How did you get roped into this situation, anyway."

"Long story. Get a few drinks in me and I'll tell you all about it."

"Lady, gentleman, the floor is as clean as it'll ever be, and I need to be wiped down as well."

"Geralt," Shepard called. "Your highness needs to be wiped down."

"I've got it." He took a rag and cleaned the vomit off of her clothing. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

As time went by, it was evident that Yennefer grew tired, as her eyelids began to droop.

"Yen, wake up."

"Hm. I wasn't sleeping, just resting my eyes."

"That's called sleeping."

"Hm, then tell me a story, to keep me awake."

"A story you say?" Shepard, who was sitting against a wall with a drink in her hand, jumped up in excitement. "I've got a story for you." She chugged some of the spirit in the mug. "So, there I was with my crew, Miranda and Garrus, on this collector ship in the heart of the Omega-4 relay. We'd fought like hell to get that far, and we finally reached the end. I had my Raptor assault rifle in hand ready to kill anything in my way. Anyway, we enter the room and the first thing we see is this ginormous human skeleton robot made of tech and liquified people, and I'm like 'we gotta take this thing down.' So Miranda pulls out her heavy pistol, Garrus pulls out his sniper rifle, and—"

Suddenly, Uma began to make soft noises.

"He's awake. It's time. Prepare the phylactery."

Uma howled in pain as Yennefer continued to cast spells.

"Nevid, cyvir!"

"UUUUMMMAA UUUUMMM MAAAAAAAA!"

"Caniatad…. Nevid…. Cyvir…."

He screeched louder and louder, yet she continued on.

"Coelle… Ariva…. Aendir…."

The spell detracted, and everyone looked at each other in shock, believing Uma was dead.

"No… no! I won't let you!" Yennefer began to bang on Uma's chest in an attempt to revive him.

Vesemir moved her away. "Quiet, listen…"

"Coalle… coalle… caniatad…" he moaned.

Yennfer reignited the spell. "Nevid, cyvir! Coalle, coalle, caniatad!" Sparks began to fly from Yennefer's hands. "Nevid! Ariva! Aendir! Geralt! The phylactery! Open it!"

He opened the phylactery and remants of the curse flew into it.

"Caniatad! Taron Anede! Dis!"

He shut it. What was left on the table was no longer Uma, but someone whom Geralt recognized.

"Avallac'h?"

"You know him?"

"Yes. An elf. Aen Elle. A sage…"

"Where is Ciri," Yennefer requested without even giving him a chance to recover.

"Hidden… the Isle of Mists… But… it's not… she's not safe… The Hunt."

"Isle of Mists? Where is that?"

"Everywhere… and nowhere…"

"Listen to me," Shepard interrupted. "Stop speaking in phrases and just be straight forward with us. Obviously it's somewhere if she's there. Just tell us how to get there."

"Praevein, arwein, cyrraen…" he spoke softly, releasing a magic firefly. Geralt caught it in his hands. "In Skellige, follow it, into the mists…. Hurry! The Hunt… has not found the Isle yet… 'tis a matter of time… they will detect her… at once…."

"We got the sprite Geralt, let's go," Shepard spoke with haste.

"Yen?"

"Go. I will keep watch over Avallac'h. His body is still weak. Gradual magic treatment should help him recover in time."

"But wait, he said that once Ciri was found The Hunt would detect her. We should gather allies before then."

"How about this. We got to the Isle and you give Miranda and Traynor your list of allies with their locations. By the time we come back everything should be in order."

"You two alright with that?"

"Very much so," Miranda answered for the both of them."

"Fine. Shepard let's go. It should take us a few days to get there. That should be enough time for the two of you to track everyone down."

"Ready, everyone?"

They all nodded in response.

"Break."


	8. The Good Thing to Wake Up To

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily—" Shepard sang as her and Geralt sailed through the Skellige Isles.

"Mm… Are you going to do that the whole way there?"

"What? But, I just started!"

"My point exactly."

"Fine. How about we talk about something on our way there."

"What about?"

"Enlighten me, if Ciri is the Emperor's daughter, how did you end up raising her?"

"She was a child of surprise."

Shepard's brow furrowed in confusion. "You mean like a birthday present or something?"

Geralt sighed. "Long story short, I saved Emhyr's life. Sometimes, witchers invoke a deal known as "The Law of Surprise" when they save a life. I told him to give me something he had, yet did not know of. Turned out his wife was pregnant, and I ended up with CIri."

"So, you just take people's kids for funsies? You didn't think it was a bad idea to just start raising a kid?"

"Not necessarily anything I'd call fun. Funny thing is, it might've been fate. Years later, saved the life of a merchant, asked for the same thing. Unbeknownst to him, his wife took in Ciri as an orphan."

"Hm. That really is something."

The boat began to sway slightly as Geralt and Shepard noticed that the firefly took a turn.

"Looks like it's showtime." Shepard began to paddle faster and Geralt followed suit.

They followed the firefly towards a group of rocks sticking out of the water, concealed by fog. They sailed around the rocks, taking a sharp left, then a right, and eventually came to a dock enveloped in mist.

"Looks like the place. Ready Geralt?"

"No turning back now."

They followed the firefly to the door of a cabin where it suddenly disappeared.

"Think she's in here?"

"Don't know. Guess we'll find out." Geralt banged on the door. "Hello? Anyone in there?"

"Who are ye and whaddaya want?"

"The name's Geralt."

"And Shepard! I'm here, too!"

"Geralt, ye say? Ye the one they be writin the ballads about?"

"Ye, how'd it go again…"

"Hey, whoever's in there we're a little too pressed for time to be singing ballads. Can you let us in? We just want to talk."

"Let ya in? I think we can hear ye just fine from in here."

"Fine. We're looking for a girl—"

Whispering was heard between the occupants of the cabin before one of them decided to reply.

"Look for someone, are ye? Say, how's bout a favor for a favor? Tell ye what, we just got into a shipwreck, we did. Lost a few of our mates on the way. If you can find 'em, be more 'en happy to answer any of your questions."

Shepard and Geralt exchanged glances of irritation.

"Fine," Geralt replied. "Who are they and how do we find them?"

"There're three of em: Ivo, Gaspard, and Ferenc. If ye wanna find Ivo, he said somethin bout looking round the cave. Garspard said something bout climbin the highest peak to look for a lantern out at sea to look for ships. And Ferenc said something about fixin up a ship. Damn handy, he is."

"Alright, we'll go look for them."

Shepard and Geralt travelled the length of the island in search of the dwarves.

"Shepard, think it'd be faster if we split up. You check the caves and I'll look for the highest peak. We'll meet back up at the lighthouse at the end of the Isle.

"Got it. Good luck."

"You, too."

Shepard, armed with nothing but a shitty sword and Wild Hunt armor, started toward the cave. On the way there, she encountered a few drowners. Even though she wasn't very handy or experienced with a sword, they still proved easy prey for her. She took them down quickly and found the entrance of her destination. The body of a dwarf laid face down on the ground at the mouth of it.

"Damn. That's one lead out."

Geralt, travelling the other way, wouldn't have been completely sure of where to look if he hadn't heard the shouting of a dwarf.

"Hey, ye, down there!"

"You one of the dwarves that got shipwrecked?"

"Yeah, ye seen any of the others?"

"They're all held up in a cabin on the other side of the Isle. Come down and I'll take you back."

"Alright. Comin down. Ye know, I've one regret that—" As he attempted to climb down he lost his footing, falling to his death.

"Damn it."

Around a half an hour later, Shepard met up with Geralt at the lighthouse in search of Gaspard.

"Ready to go up?"

"Sure am."

At the top of the lighthouse, they found a dwarf leaning against a chest fast asleep and mumbling something. Shepard kicked him to wake him up.

"Achh I-I'm awake. Who're ye?"

"I'm Shepard. This is Geralt. You one of the dwarves that got shipwrecked."

He yawned. "Yeah, one of them. Came here in search of some treasure an—"

"Any chance you've seen an ashen haired woman around here," Geralt interrupted.

"Mmph, no. But a lot passes me by on account of me sleepin'."

"Alright, let's get back to your friends."

As they exited the lighthouse and began their trek back to the cabin, Gaspard fell asleep on the side of the road.

Shepard let out a frustrated groan. "I don't have time for this shit." She scooped him up and tossed him over her shoulder "Let's get the hell out of here."

Once they were back at the cabin, Geralt knocked on the door.

"Whaddya want?"

"We found your friends. One of them was found dead at the mouth of the cave, the other fell from a rock as soon as I found him. One of them is still alive." Geralt gestured toward Shepard. She responded by throwing Gaspard on the ground, knocking him awake.

"I-I-I-I'm awake!"

"Haha! Gaspard! Stand back, I'm openin the door!"

The door opened to reveal four other dwarves, who all came out to greet their friend.

"Gaspard! You seem a bit muddled!"

"Muddled? A bit drowsy, is all."

"Listen here, dwarves," Shepard started. "I know you're happy to be back together and all, but we're looking for our snow white."

"Ashen hair, green eyes. Seen her?"

"Oh, dreadful sorry."

"What do you mean?"

"She's cold. Spirit's left her."

"Must've passed shortly before we found her."

"Come, friends, let's wait by the boat."

As the dwarves made their exit, Geralt suddenly gained a sullen expression.

"You okay," Shepard asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Without responding or looking at Shepard, he slowly opened the door. At the far end of the room, he could see Ciri, laying on the bed, facing away from him. He took careful steps closer to where she lay, Shepard being sure to give him a wide berth as she trailed him. He put a hand on her shoulder, turning her over gently. She flopped, the life seemingly gone from her. He sat beside her, wanting to cry, yet finding himself unable to. He held her in his arms, rocking her back and forth as if she were a small child. As soon as Shepard was to open her mouth to call his name, a warm hand grazed his back. She was alive, and Geralt was once again reunited with his ward.

Geralt and Ciri sat together by the fire as Shepard sat further from them, leaning against a wall drinking some spirit the dwarves had left behind, nursing a black eye that Ciri had given her as soon as she'd woken up.

"I'm really glad we got that whole thing cleared up. For a second there I thought you were riding with the hunt, again." She faced Shepard. "I truly am sorry for that, by the way."

Shepard waved it off. "It's fine. This isn't the first black eye I've gotten."

"Geralt, I never knew you one to travel with a partner," Ciri started, grinding her blade against a whetstone.

"Yeah. Funny thing, that is."

"Funny indeed. Who are you, anyway?"

"Commander Shepard, *hic* reporting for duty. Systems Alliance Marine, raging alcoholic, destroyer of worlds, N7, spectre, and a hardcore renegade." She lifted the bottle in the air. "Who's like us?"

They both stared at her blankly, so she answered the question herself in someone else's voice.

"Damn few, and they're all dead!" She chugged the bottle.

Ciri laughed in amusement and Geralt shook his head.

"Your scar seems to be healing quite nicely."

"Mhm. Avallac'h prepared some special potions for me. But, that was before the curse gripped him. Wonder where he is now."

"We lifted the curse. He's back at Kaer Morhen, waiting for you."

"Are you serious? You must be. You'd not jest about that… A nice thing to wake up to!"

Even though she realized the time sensitivity of the situation, Shepard allowed the two of them to continue enjoying their long-awaited reunion. Shepard ended up falling asleep, only waking up an hour later when Geralt tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ready to go?"

She wiped the drool off of her face with the back of her hand and stood up. "Yeah, yeah. Let me just—"

Ciri aided her in her attempt to stand to her feet.

"Thanks. I think I'm ready now."

They all headed outside just in time to watch the dwarves escaping with the boat.

"Dammit. What now?"

As Geralt spoke he noticed that his breath produced condensation in the air. They all looked out into the distance and saw a Wild Hunt ship approaching.

"Ciri, take us out of here."

"But they'll know how to find me!"

"They already do. Ciri, Take us home."

She grabbed both their hands and closed her eyes. In a split second, they all disappeared in a green mist.

Everyone at Kaer Morhen continued business as usual oblivious of what was to happen next. Yennefer and Miranda were posted overlooking the wall as they conversed and giggled to each other. Traynor and Lambert sat by the dummies playing Gwent, and Vesemir was grooming the horses. Suddenly, they began to appear agitated and he tried to calm them down. Then, out of a green mist, Geralt, Shepard, and Ciri appeared.

Ciri took a minute to take in her surroundings, noticing that nothing had changed since she was last there.

Vesemir turned to greet her, and she ran toward him, leaping into his arms.

"CIIIIIIRIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Yennefer ran down from the wall and Miranda followed behind her, but not moving as swiftly.

Yennefer ran into Ciri, embracing her, coddling her face in her hands.

"My, you've grown… beautiful!"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Triss appeared as well.

"Little sis…" They hugged.

Ciri observed all of her friends in front of her.

"You've all not changed a bit!"

"Miranda," Shepard asked. "Is everything in order? Did you find everyone?"

"We did, and then some."

"And then some? What do you mean?"

She led Shepard away from everyone else to allow Ciri more time with her friends.

"I took the liberty of seeking help from a few other friends. People who enjoy putting themselves in danger as much as you." She opened the doors of Kaer Morhen, and, low and behold…

"Greetings, Commander," Ashley saluted.

All of the Normandy's crew, sans Joker, Edi, and Grunt, were available and at their service, clad in medieval armor, bearing swords and crossbows.

James greeted her with a heavy slap on the back.

"Jefe, you ready for this shit?"

Shepard looked around at her crew, proudly. She smiled.

"Looks like we're as ready as we'll ever be."


	9. The Unharmed Lil' Bleater

Shepard sat at the table, drinking some leftovers of Lambert's home brew as the crew of the Normandy mingled with different people of the new world they'd arrived to. Yennefer conversed with Miranda and Ashley as they all giggled away. Triss and James were in a corner, possibly flirting, as James flexed his muscles and Triss stroked his chest. Eskel and Lambert practiced swordplay with Javik. Liara was with Vesemir and Geralt, all of them hovering over a table, pointing at a map of Kaer Morhen. Tali and Traynor helped Keira with her hair and makeup, and Garrus was sharpening weapons with Zoltan. Ciri sat across from Shepard, joining her at the table.

"I haven't gotten the chance to meet you personally. Though, Geralt's told me quite a bit about you."

"What do you want to know?"

"For one, I'd like to know how you went from getting here to agreeing to fight the hunt."

Shepard sat her drink down.

"It's… a long story. A lot of it has to do with you."

"With me? But—"

"See, I came looking for an ashen haired girl with mysterious voodoo powers that could activate some piece of shit machine to save all of the Milky Way galaxy. But—"

"So once this is all done with you expect me to just go back to your world with you, a stranger I've never met before, and risk my life to save people I've never met? It's about my powers again, always!"

"Calm down, you didn't let me finish." Shepard suddenly gained a sullen expression. "I'm not going back."

"You're not? Why?"

"Sitting here drinking and all got me thinking, what's the point, really? I'm no hero, or god, or savior of people, or any of that. Besides, we've been here so long who's to say the reapers haven't already won? I just don't care about it anymore."

"But, your people—"

"They can all suck it." As she uttered the words, her face suddenly began to singe with pain. She winced.

"Your face! What's happened to it?"

"Don't worry about it. It just means I made a bad decision. It happens all the time."

Avallac'h approached Shepard and Ciri at the table.

"Zirael, may I have a word alone with the Commander?"

She nodded and walked away. He took her seat at the table across from Shepard.

"Commander Jane Shepard, is it?"

"Yeah, what do you want?"

"Excuse me, I just happened to be eavesdropping in on your conversation with Zirael. We have been to many worlds together, including the one of which you previously inhabited."

"What of it?"

"When we arrived, it was no doubt that I'd heard people singing the praises of the great Commander Shepard, and others who deemed you a sellout and a traitor for working with a three-headed dog."

"You mean Cerberus? It's an organization, not an actual animal."

"Excuse me, for I was not there long enough to learn that sort of thing. As I saw it, you seem to be a beacon of hope for your people, regardless of what they think of you. Yet, I have seen worlds like yours. Worlds decimated by what your people refer to as 'Reapers'. Regardless of whether your people make it or not, which I believe they are doomed to fail, you must defeat them, as to not allow it to happen to anyone else."

"You heard the girl, she said she didn't want to go. Besides, why should I care? They only wipe out all intelligent species every fifty thousand years. I'd be dead by then, anyway."

"But what about your children? And your children's children? I have spoken to the thing you call 'Liara'. She says that her species lives up to a thousand years. You feel for her, do you not?"

"Sure. What does that matter?"

"I have visited a world like yours that thrives yet. Although your world may be doomed, there is still hope for your future generations. Fifty generations of Shepard lost to the Reapers. Is that a future you want?"

She sighed. "No, I guess not."

"Then you must defeat them. And if your will demands it, you shall. As far as Zirael, she does many things she does not want, but not without convincing. You must get her to trust you."

She swirled her drink. "I'll keep that in mind."

As soon as she'd finished her sentence, Liara approached them with an angry face.

"Excuse me, I must return to my rest." Avallac'h left the table.

"Shepard, we could be going to battle at any moment. Do you really think it's a good idea to be drinking?"

"That's actually exactly why I'm drinking." She chugged what was left in the mug while looking Liara straight in the face. "Ahhh. Refreshing."

"They're starting the meeting now. Gather with everyone else, and try to look interested."

"Can do!"

Everyone gathered around the table, staring at Shepard as she snored. Liara kicked the back of her chair.

"REEEAAPEER—Oh. Uh, excuse me, everyone. Was I asleep?"

"Yes," they all spouted in unison.

"I apologize. It won't happen again."

"Right." Geralt stood at the head of the table. "The Wild Hunt'll be here soon. They're coming for Ciri, wanna take her."

"How do you know the Hunt'll show," Lambert asked.

"They always know where I teleport to, and they move from place to place in an instant."

"So, what's our plan?"

Shepard popped up and threw her hands in the air. "A plan! That's my specialty! Hold on a second."

Shepard disappeared into the next room.

"Where's she going?"

"You'll see," Miranda answered in an irritated fashion.

Shepard returned, equipped with a chalkboard and a piece of chalk, which she used to push Geralt out of the way. The chalkboard had a picture of the layout of Kaer Morhen. "We are here." She placed an X on the board. "And when they get here they'll be here. What we need to start out is a barrier around the fort. We have three biotics, and three sorceresses. Yennefer and Miranda will hold a barrier of some sort around the fortress and they'll position themselves here." She placed a Y and an M on the board. "Liara, you'll be with Triss here using magic and doing some biotic stuff here." She marked an L and a T. "Keira and Javik, you two will be here and here protecting the gate." She marked a J and a K. "How do the Wild Hunt get here exactly?"

"They get here by arriving through open portals," Yennefer answered.

"And how do we close them?"

"Either Yrden or Dimeritium bombs," Lambert informed.

"Then that means we'll need at least one Witcher and someone with a pretty good throwing arm. Geralt, Lambert, you two can go and…"

"Aye, Commander. No one's got a better throwing arm than me. I throw grenades all day, amigo." James made a motion as if he were throwing a football.

"Good. Geralt, Lambert, and James. You'll all be going out into the forest and closing the portals, stopping any more of them from getting here." They all nodded.

"I'll also give you all amulets," Yennefer started. "Snap them in half and you'll become invisible, at least while you remain still or move slowly. Move abruptly, engage any foes, clash with them, and they will see you. Apart from that, they will also be able to hear and smell you. If you come across a large unit, do not attack. Signal Triss, and she will provide support."

I'll look for your signal. Soon as I see it, I'll rain fire on the forest."

"Don't forget that Ciri is most important in all of this," Geralt interrupted. "The Hunt's after her, and we have to defend her at all costs."

"Out of the question, I can look after myself!"

"Yeah, Geralt. Out of the question! I had her laid out in my plan and everything!"

"And where did you have her in your plan?"

"She was supposed to be fending for herself at the gates with everyone else. But—"

"But, what," Ciri interrogated.

"Geralt is right. You should stay in here. If worse comes to worst, there's no doubt you'll be jumping in. You can stay in here with Traynor and play chess or something. Just make sure to keep yourself from dying."

"Pff. Fine."

Shepard wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "Any other pressing concerns?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Then off to battle. Everyone, get to preparing. I'll be here if you need me."

* * *

Shepard was with Lambert making Dimeritium bombs as they made conversation about the meeting.

"You know, watching you up there making those battle plans was really something else. Ever since I met you you've been drunk off your ass. Never thought there was actually a brain in that head of yours."

"Oh, I'm just full of surprises," Shepard responded sarcastically. Yennefer ran up to them, seemingly in a hurry.

"Have any of you seen Ciri?"

"Ciri? She said she was going upstairs with Traynor to play chess. Something about easing tension before battle."

Shepard's face looked surprised.

"What is it?"

"When I made the comment about Ciri and Traynor playing chess I was just joking. I didn't want them to actually do that."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that it was a euphemism."

"Yes, it was."

Miranda and Ashley followed behind Yennefer.

"Did you find her?"

"Apparently she went upstairs with Traynor to play chess."

"Oh no."

"She didn't. Did she really?"

"What are you all on about?"

Shepard took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Your little girl is probably a woman now."

"What?! She better not have—"

"It could be worse. That could be me in there. And trust me, I'm much more aggressive."

"We've all fallen for that trick once… or twice." Miranda looked at her feet in embarrassment. "We all know how Traynor is."

Yennefer grew red with fury.

"Calm down, Yennefer. It'll be alright. Ciri is in good hands."

"Yeah she is!" Ashley and Miranda high fived.

"Guys, come on. She's all mad and stuff. Take all your anger and put it toward The Hunt. You can deal with Ciri and Traynor after."

"Fine!" She strutted away.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear any of that conversation." Lambert went back to making bombs.

"She should just be happy you don't have showers."

* * *

By the time the battle was ready to begin, everyone was getting into place. The Wild Hunt ship appeared over the horizon and Yennefer and Miranda set up a barrier around Kaer Morhen. Meanwhile, Geralt, Lambert, and James pranced about the forest looking to close Wild Hunt portals.

"These medallions the sorceress lady cooked up are really somethin' else. Wish I had one of these while I was back in high school. Couple of places where being invisible woulda come in handy if you know what I mean."

Not getting what he meant at all, Geralt and Lambert rolled their eyes at each other.

"Wait. Over there. A portal."

"Hand me a bomb and get ready for the gun show." James took the bomb and aimed using one hand, then threw it, landing right on the portal. "That's what I'm talkin about," he whispered.

They closed another one with no problem at all, but when they reached the third, they were sniffed out by a Wild Hunt hound causing the invisibility to wear off.

"Shit, what do we do now?"

"We'll have to fight them off while we wait for Triss to respond to the signal."

"I'm no good with a sword, but I'm pretty damn good with my fists. Let's go!"

Geralt and Lambert pulled out their silver swords while James went headfirst into battle bearing nothing but his fists. Surprisingly enough, it was a pretty effective form of combat. He killed three hounds by punching them to death, and ran up to an actual Wild Hunt warrior, pulled off his helmet, and punched him in the face, then took his blade and stabbed him in the eye.

"Geralt, what's going on? Merigold hasn't responded to the signal!"

"Don't know. Just we'll just have to fend them off while we wait."

Ciri appeared on the wall, seemingly out of nowhere, with her sword, sweaty and with her pants oddly set on her hips as if she'd rushed to put them on.

"I'm going to help Triss."

"You heard the order," Vesemir reminded her. "You were told to stay inside."

"No. I'm not going to sit idly by while you all risk your lives for me."

"Fine. Go help Triss."

She flew through the Hunt warriors, cutting them down as she made her way to Triss' location. When she wasn't paying attention, one of them was just about to stab her, when Zoltan came out of nowhere and jabbed his dagger into its back. They fell off the top of the tower and landed next to Garrus, who was just standing there looking out into the forest.

"Duvelsheiss," he uttered, as he spat on the fallen Hunt warrior.

"I should really be participating in this," Garrus noted, making his way to the front gate.

Once Ciri had made her way to Triss, Liara was standing next to her with a ball of biotic power ready in one hand.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

* * *

"Come on, pendejo. You and me, mano y mano!"

Just as the Wild Hunt warrior was making his way to James, sword in hand, Lambert pulled him and Geralt into a Quen as Triss and Liara rained fire and biotics all over the forest, burning and shocking all of the Hunt. Once the attack had subsided, they all got on horses, riding toward Kaer Morhen's front gate.

"I'm pretty shit at riding a horse, so let's hope I make it," James said as he struggled to keep up with Geralt and Lambert.

Once they'd all made it to the front, they dismounted their horses and were greeted by Vesemir who was posted on the wall.

"Large detachment approaching from the woods! We need to close the gate before they get inside!"

"On it," Shepard called, as she was leaning next to the lever that controlled the gate, eating an apple.

"Ladd nahw," Imlerith wailed as he began banging on the gate with a mace.

Lambert, who was suddenly isolated from everyone else, struggled against a group of Hunt warriors.

"Help! I need—"

Suddenly they were all lifted into the air and tossed over the wall. Javik, who was standing next to Keira, held an angry expression. "You need to pay attention, human!"

She scoffed.

"Thanks, man! That was really something."

Javik didn't respond, shaking his head.

"We have to pull back! The sorceress' strength is waning!"

As Geralt headed to the gate, Vesemir hit a lever with a hammer, causing the gate, as well as a few stones, to crush a few Hunt warriors. "Fall back! Through the gate! Into the courtyard!"

Noticing that the gate that Eskel was supposed to open was closed, Geralt decided to help Triss.

"Thanks for your help, things were looking shaky!" She looked up to Ciri who was posted on the wall. "What up with Eskel!"

"He's in trouble! I'm going to help him!"

"Remember the stone I gave you!"

She nodded and went on to help Eskel. When she found him, he in a fight with Caranthir, an Wild Hunt officer, who had seemingly knocked him down and set off to finish him. She engaged him in combat, blocking and dodging his blows. He then vanished, leaving her and Eskel to contend with the warriors. Once they were defeated, they headed off to join the rest of the crew, passing an unharmed Lil' Bleater as the went.

"You should've stayed in the keep, sat your ass down like you were supposed to."

"Then who would've saved yours?"

Ciri arrived at the lever that opened the gate and let everyone in.

"Eskel's opened the gate! We can retreat beyond it!" They all followed Vesemir into the courtyard, Geralt noticing that Ciri was there as well.

"You were supposed to wait!"

"Too late now!"

They forged ahead, closing Wild Hunt portals and fighting warriors, yet Yennefer and Miranda were exhausted from exerting so much energy and collapsed in unison, allowing the gates to open, and white frost to freeze a majority of the crew. Eredin crept in along with his hounds, as Vesemir provided protection for the wounded Ciri, attempting to drag her off to safety.

"But—we must…. Geralt, where is he?"

Eredin grabbed Ciri by her hair and dragged her toward him as Vesemir was left to fight Imlerith.

"You shan't escape me this time."

As he attempted to drag her into a portal, Vesemir knocked her out of his hands and pushed her away with an Aard. Imlerith knocked him down and stepped on his wrist.

"Hey," they all heard someone shout, looking up to see Shepard with a weapon in her hand they hadn't seen before. "Enough is enough! Drop the girl and I'll let you go!"

"And if we don't?"

Shepard pulled the trigger of the machine pistol, firing off a few shots in their direction, causing them all to duck.

"Trust me, there's a lot more where that came from! Let the old man go!"

Imlerith smashed his foot into Vesemir's wrist even tougher than before.

"That's it!"

She began firing off shots in full automatic mode, causing some of the Hunt to retreat into a portal while Imlerith and Eredin covered their heads. Soon enough, she was all out of bullets.

"Shit. I knew I should've brought more than one clip."

Ciri pulled out her sword as Imlerith continued to beat Vesemir.

"Imlerith." Eredin raised his hand to stop him. Imlerith picked up Vesemir and smashed him into a wall.

"Run!"

"She'll not abandon you. You humans… are so impractical." He stretched out his hand for Ciri to grab willingly.

"Ciri, no!"

"Aargh, I forbid you!"

"Ciri, don't do it! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

She dropped her sword.

"That's not what I meant!"

She walked slowly toward Eredin.

"You always were an unruly child. I liked that about you." Vesemir jabbed his dagger into Imlerith. "Now fly!"

Imlerith cracked his neck and dropped him. He was dead.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Eredin put his mask back on, then waved his hand allowing his warriors to approach to obtain Ciri.

"Ciri! Don't—"

The world seemingly slowed around her, Vesemir's dead body, the Hunt, Shepard dashing toward her with an empty machine pistol in hand, then nothing….

A high-pitched scream rang across all of Kaer Morhen as Ciri allowed her power to take full control. Shepard was blown back into a wall and knocked out from the blow. The shafts shook, the Hunt covered their ears, blood flowed from Eskel's ears as he was frozen in time.

Eredin attempted to reach for her, but was pulled back into a portal.

The release didn't stop until Avallac'h was awoken.

"Gvaed, gvaed uncym, cym'morth," he chanted from the balcony, causing the eruption to fade as Ciri fainted.


	10. The Peak of the Mountain

Vesemir's body lay on the wooden bed as the crew gathered around to say their final goodbyes. Ciri stood at the forefront of the gathering, clutching a bouquet of flowers. She sobbed as she lay them on top of his lifeless body. Geralt lifted a torch over Vesemir, setting his body ablaze. As Geralt and Ciri exchanged words, Avallac'h nudged Sheaprd, encouraging her to take to opportunity to comfort Ciri.

"If you want Zirael to trust you, you should take this time to say a few words."

"About Vesemir? I didn't even know the guy."

"To her." He waved his hand forward, motioning to Ciri who had snatched Vesemir's medallion from where he lay and stomped off. "Go after her."

Shepard sighed as she went after Ciri. She found her sitting on the wall of Kaer Morhen, misty eyed.

"Hey, you okay?"

"You don't know what it's like, to watch someone you love die… because of you, for you."

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"You…"

"Kaidan Alenko, he was one of my soldiers. Back in 2183 we conducted a mission on Virmire in attempt to capture Saren Arterius along with the Salarian Special Tasks Group. I sent Ashley to help them, and I sent Kaidan to arm the bomb set to blow up Saren's lab. When shit hit the fan, I had to make a choice, save Ashley or Kaiden. I chose Ashley and the STG. Kaidan… he… died for all of us, to make it off the planet. His last words to me were 'I regret nothing'. I can still hear his voice every time I close my eyes, go to sleep…"

"That's… terrible. I'm sorry you had to endure that. How did you get over it?"

"I haven't. But that wasn't the only time. Thane, the Asari on Thessia, Mordin…. The list goes on. But you know what, Ciri? You just have to take it one day at a time. You should always remember the people you fight for, and the people who have fought for you, but death should never take precedence over life."

Ciri sat awestricken at the fact that Shepard had shared so much with her in an aid to comfort her over the death of Vesemir. She actually smiled a bit at her thoughtfulness.

"That really helped. Thank you."

"No problem. Should we get back to the others? It looks like their brewing a plan."

"Yes, we should."

As they approached the group, they could hear Yennefer divulging a plan with Triss.

"Triss, I wish to start today with finding the Sorceresses of the Lodge. Can you help me?"

"I can. Even have an idea of where you can start."

"Dammit," Ciri budged in. "Again you plan without even asking what I think. I've had enough of this! I won't be taken somewhere like a… bundle. I will not sit and twiddle my thumbs. I'm sick waiting, sick of hiding!"

"You're right," Geralt replied. "Proved today you can take care of yourself."

"Easier to pat someone on the back and hope things will work out than it is to face the truth. Zirael possesses a great power she cannot control. She is a danger to herself, to others. Until she learns to control it, she should remain isolated."

"First of all," Ciri started. "Bulloks. Second, if you're going to speak of courage, at least address me directly, and not through Geralt." She angrily eyed everyone in the group. "I'm gone!"

"I'll go after her."

"Wait! You must let her resolve her grief on her own."

Geralt sighed. "This training really necessary?"

"You saw what happened. She could be a greater threat than The Hunt."

"Fine. We'll stay here a few more days and meet you and Triss in Novigrad, Dandelion's inn."

"Come on, Yen. The sooner we leave the better."

"Shepard," Geralt asked. "You going with?"

"If you all don't mind, I'm sending my crew on a 'special task'. They'll join us later, but I'd rather stay here in the meantime."

"That'll do. Triss and I will head off to Novigrad. Take care of yourselves."

* * *

A few days later Shepard was leaning against a stump in the courtyard, drinking, when Ciri stormed out with Avallac'h trailing behind her.

"It's not working, can't you see?!"

"Discouraged after a mere eight attempts? Zirael…"

"How many times must I try?"

"As many as it takes."

"I'm not getting anywhere."

Avallac'h looked over at Shepard who was steadying herself as she looked him in the eye. They nodded at each other.

"We shall return to this later."

Shepard approached Ciri who was leaning against the stone, looking out into the scenery. "Ya know, back when I was just starting out as an N7—"

"Shepard, please not now. Avallac'h says nothing will come of this unless I stop thinking about the battle, but the moment I stop filling my head with kittens and vanilla pudding… How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Clear your head. How do you stay as calm as you do?"

"Well, I drink a lot, but that's not really a solution. I like to shoot things, but you don't have guns… I like to play the guitar..."

"The what?"

"It's like a lute. I find it very calming actually. I also like to gamble—"

"Play me a song."

"A song? Do you have a lute?"

"I'm sure there's one around here. I'll be right back."

Moments later, Ciri returned, covered in dust, with a lute that she dug up from somewhere. Apparently, it used to belong to Vesemir in his younger days and he kept it stowed away in the storage room. She handed it to Shepard as she tried to hide a smile.

"Alright, just give me a second here to tune it." As she strummed the strings, dust filled her nose and she sneezed all over Ciri, which was seemingly comical to her. "Uhh, seems good enough. I guess I'll just…" She began to pluck the strings. "All our times have come. Here but now they're gone."

"I don't think I know the song, but it sounds quite lovely."

"Oh, you'll know it by the end of the day. Seasons don't fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the sun or the rain…"

Ciri clapped her hands as she laughed.

"La, la, la, la, la!"

The two of them began to dance together.

"We can be like they are, come on baby, don't fear the reaper!"

Shepard dropped the lute and grabbed Ciri's hand, spinning her around as she continued to sing. Once she was done singing, they were both sweaty and laughing.

"That was really fun! Thanks, Shepard."

"Of course."

"By the way, your face."

"What about it." She rubbed her fingers against what scars were left.

"It looks different, like some of the scars went away."

"Hmm.. that's… strange. Wonder why that would happen. So, what now?"

"I'll go see where our dearest Sage is..."

* * *

Early the next morning, Shepard was asleep on a stone bed with no cover in her underwear with an empty bottle of brew next to her head when Ciri woke her up.

"Psst… Shepard."

When she was shaken awake, she belched in Ciri's face.

"Huh! Wh-What—"

"I need you to help me with something. We must go. I've saddled the horses."

Shepard looked to her wrist to check the time on her watch, but realized that she hadn't taken it with her. "Where do you want to go so early?"

"To Velen. Bald Mountain. But a few days 'til the witches' sabbath."

"The who? What? I don't even know what any of that means. You're just making stuff up to confuse me."

"Shepard, this is no time for jests. We must go. Guess who's the guest of honor?"

"Let me guess… is it someone I've never heard of because I'm not from here?"

"Imlerith!"

"Sounds like I was correct."

"The battle with The Hunt? He was here. The double handed mace?"

"Oh, that guy. Yeah. Shouldn't you be asking Geralt or Avallac'h to help you? I don't know anything about any of this."

"I left them both notes. Besides, I need someone I can trust that—"

"Someone you can trust?" Shepard sprung up. "I'll grab my non-Wild Hunt gear and meet you at the stables. Just give me some time to get ready."

* * *

Shepard and Ciri made it by night time by boat, which Shepard had struggled to keep her balance on the entire time that they'd paddled.

Once they'd reached shore, Ciri explained to Shepard the history of the place and how it was the gathering spot for the Ladies of the Wood.

"This world is way too complicated for me. The what of the whose?"

"The Ladies of the Wood, Shepard."

"Yeah. You also said something about a party?"

"No drinking tonight. I know it's going to be hard for you, but you have to keep your mind clear if you're going to fight The Hunt tonight."

"Pff. Fine. Let's go."

At the top of the mountain, they were greeted by a group of villagers, one of which had a crossbow aimed directly at them.

"Let them approach," the older one ordered.

"But—"

"They've come for the feast. Wouldn't do to cast them out."

"Don't worry about us. We just came to get to the top of the mountain."

"The gate is shut. You'll not pass. But we've fires down that way, with food and drink aplenty. Sit down beside one and perhaps this year the Ladies will descend, give us the privilege of seein' 'em."

"Thanks, but no thanks. We should go. Right, Ciri?"

"Right. Thank you."

As they continued up the mountain, Ciri pointed to the top of the bridge. "Look, a child."

"A child with blue skin? Doesn't that seem like something you'd want to stay away from?"

When he heard them talking, he turned around and ran to them excitedly. "Well I'll be, aren't you that ashen haired lass the white one was looking for?"

"You must mean Geralt. I am."

"Did you fine 'im?"

"I did. Everything worked out fine enough."

"I'm Johnny, we've had the pleasure already, a bit one sided—"

"Hey, kid. Do you know how we can get to the top of the mountain," Shepard interrupted.

"The mountain?" He sighed. "Path to the peak starts there, past the gate, but only old Thecla's got the key, so since you shan't ever get it, you'd best turn back now."

"Why don't you think we'll get the key?"

"Good grief! You're worse than children! Three souls are allowed top the mountain, and only strapping young lads and comely lasses among them. They get the key, open the gate and meet the Ladies."

"I believe I qualify!"

Shepard angrily eyed Ciri, then Johnny. "What, and I don't?"

"Exactly! What good are you?"

"You know, the last kid I talked to died a horrible death. How about you—" Her face began to singe. "I mean, listen Johnny, we need to get to the summit regardless."

"It's Thecla you'll need to convince. She's blind as your bum, but she won't be fooled."

"We shan't trick her."

"She sits in that tent over yonder. I wish you luck and do hope we meet again… someday."

They continued on to the festival and made their way up to Thecla's tent. Ciri went in ahead of Shepard. Old Thecla sat at the far edge of the tent clutching onto a wooden stick of some kind.

"Hm… who's that? Well, come closer, girl. Well, what's she like."

Another girl entered the tent behind them. "Narrow hips, sparkly eyes, a strikin', feisty lass."

"Never had a man?" She sniffed the air. "Never mind, got me answer. I choose you, girl. This night, you shall see the Ladies."

"Hey, what about me?"

"Hmm…. What else has the cat dragged in?"

"It's not too bad, strong, green eyes, but got a face crackin' open like molten lava."

"It also stinks like booze, and it's tired and depressed, and too old for the Ladies. I reject ye'. The girl will ascend alone."

"What? No! That's all wrong. I haven't drunk in five hours; how do I smell like booze? And my face isn't even as bad as it was yesterday morning."

"Hm.. Girl?"

"She's sprier than any youth. Only smells like booze because she… works in a tavern, of course."

"Perhaps I was mistaken. Maybe there's life in 'er yet. By ancient rite you may appeal my choice, but to do so you must best the challenge."

"Bring it on."

"Come."

Shepard followed Old Thecla to the edge of the river. She threw a coin into it.

"Now, bring me the coin."

Without a second thought, Shepard jumped into the lake Lara Croft style, and swam to the bottom, retrieving the coin in no time at all. She ran back to Old Thecla's tent.

"They're back."

"Whaddya want?"

"I got your coin."

She sniffed it. "It reeks of sludge."

"Well you threw it in the lake, didn't you?" Ciri nudged Shepard with her elbow. "Anyway, do I get to see the Ladies or not?"

"Show the coin to the gatekeeper, he'll know it's meanin'."

Once they'd followed the younger lady to the gate, they met with the gatekeeper, a large beast with red skin and horns.

"What's your name girl?

"What's yours?"

"Hmm… your name don't matter. Atop the peak, you'll lose it and get another. You may go. And you?"

"They told me to give you this coin so I could pass."

"The Defier's Oren. A death sentence."

Shepard pulled out a sword that she had stolen from Geralt as he slept, as Ciri whipped around the gatekeeper dealing great amounts of damage. He was, eventually, killed.

"Great, they thought I was so ugly they'd rather just kill me."

"We've no time to lose. I'll tend to Imlerith, you take the Crones."

"What? No deal. If I heard you correctly, you said 'Crones', which is plural. I didn't agree to fighting multiple people I've never met before."

"Fine, let's play for it, rock, paper, scissors."

Upon losing three rounds of rock, paper, scissors to Shepard, Ciri was visibly upset.

"Dammit, two out of three!"

"The gods have spoken. You go after the witches, I'll go after the Hunt."

"Fine! Be careful."

"You, too. We'll talk later."

While Ciri was off dealing with the Crones, Shepard went to the top of the mountain to meet Imlerith. When she found him, he was sitting down, surrounded by succubi. They all scurried away when they noticed Shepard's approach.

"The sister's said you would come. They saw you arrive in the water's surface. They did not see the girl, but she is with you, is she not?"

"Doesn't matter. Your problem is with me, now."

"Your words will change nothing." He grabbed his helmet and put it on. "First you. Then her." He grabbed his shield and mace and swung it around.

As Imlerith and Shepard battled, she suddenly found herself becoming a capable fighter with a sword, dodging his hits and even landing a few.

"This is just like dancing, and I'm pretty good at that." She dodged another blow. She was doing quite well until he teleported behind her and got her in the back of the head. He hovered over her as he lifted his mace into the air. She rolled over and landed back on her feet, then she tackled him to the ground.

"Enough is enough!" She pulled out her machine pistol, which was the only weapon she snuck with her from the ship, along with three fully loaded magazines. She pulled off his helmet and stuck the barrel in his face.

"Who taught you to fight like this?"

"The greatest captain the Normandy's ever seen." She fired three shots straight into his face.

Once she was done, she dug through his armor for loot, and was disappointed when all she found was an acorn, which she ate as she headed back to the peak to find Ciri.

She found Ciri sitting at the edge of the mountain dangling her feet as she looked out into the horizon. She sat next to her.

"We did it."

"Yeah we did. How'd it go down there?"

"Slew only two of the Crones. The third fled… with Vesemir's medallion. My sole memento."

"So, feel good about the turnout?"

"I do. I knew we would win, from the start. Now to find Eredin and kill him. An oren for your thoughts?"

"You think Geralt and Yennefer are going to be mad?"

"I think once they learn we've succeeded, they'll get over it. I wonder if Triss and Yennefer have found the sorceresses of the lodge. We ought to rejoin them."

"Let's take a minute to rest first. The world won't end if we enjoy the view for just a few moments longer."

"True."

Ciri rested her head on Shepard's shoulder as the two of them savored the view of the lands from the peak of the mountain.


	11. The Blind

"So, you're telling me that's happened before," Shepard asked Ciri as they approached the walls of Novigrad.

"Somehow me losing chess usually ends in me getting naked as well."

"That's… wild…" Shepard looked to the side and noticed burnt corpses decorating the pathway heading into the city. "What the hell is going on around here?"

"They're all non-humans. I thought it was only mages the Temple Guard were after."

"Apparently this world isn't much better than mine."

As they entered the Rosemary and Thyme, they were greeted by old friends of Geralt and Ciri; Zoltan, and the illustrious Dandelion.

"Dandelion! Ready some tankards! We've guests!"

Dandelion flew from behind the counter to greet the two. "Ciri! When I learned Geralt had found you—"

"Good to see you in one piece, Dandelion."

"And you, I don't believe I've ever met you before. You must be the one Geralt and Yennefer were talking about!"

"Really? What did they say?"

"Something about alcoholism… or maybe it was something about you being a negative influence on Ciri…. or maybe—"

"Nevermind, I don't want to know. I'm Shepard, by the way."

"And a pleasantry to meet you. I am Master—"

Shepard yawned in an exasperated fashion. "We should really get some rest. It's been a long trip, hasn't it, Ciri?"

"O-Of course it has. We should very well be getting to sleep soon enough."

"Course. Come on, little swallow. I'll take ye'." Zoltan prepared to lead Ciri off to a room upon having a final word with Shepard.

"I'll get some rest, and I'll meet you later, Shepard. I would like your help with handling some unfinished business."

"I'll be here if you need me."

Shepard prepared to make her way upstairs as well, but Dandelion put his hands up to stop her.

"I don't think you should go to bed quite yet. Earlier when Geralt was by, he mentioned having to handle some business with Triss and Yennefer. He went off to meet Yen somewhere, but wanted to know if you could help Triss out in the meantime."

Shepard took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes which were blood red and inflamed. Her stomach gurgled as well, possibly a negative reaction from the acorn she'd eaten earlier. "Fine. Just give me a minute to drink."

* * *

About two hours later Shepard finally stumbled upstairs to meet Triss in her room. When she opened the door, Triss angrily stormed in her direction.

"Have you lost your mind!? You went after Imlerith by yourselves? To the sabbath?"

As Triss continued to talk, Shepard's eyes fixated on Triss'. Everything slowly became blurry, as she was entering a state of mild hallucination. As she stared into Triss' eyes, she suddenly heard whispers, as if she could read her mind, or as if someone else's thoughts were interfering with her own.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you even listening to me?"

Shepard snapped back to reality. "Sorry. I'm just feeling a little ill from an acorn I ate earlier. It's no big deal. Just—Did you need my help with something?"

Triss sighed. "I suppose we should get down to business. I need your help tracking down Philippa Eilhart."

"Philawho whatnow?"

"She's one of the sorceresses of the Lodge. The ones Yen and I have been trying to track down? The reason we're in Novigrad in the first place?"

Shepard scratched her head. "Was I a part of that conversation?"

Triss sighed. "Forget I said anything."

"So, how are we supposed to find this 'sorceress'?"

"With this clue." Triss pulled out a feather.

"We're looking for an owl?"

"Maybe. For now, we're looking for a fountain where we won't be disturbed."

"Lead the way."

* * *

Shepard and Triss were outside of the Passiflora near a fountain that was isolated and quiet.

"Here we are. Observe the water's surface very carefully. We can't let anything go unnoticed." Triss repeated a few magic words and images began to appear in the water's surface.

"I'm looking, I'm looking…. I see… some doors… a candle... and a fat, bald man… I see.."

"Dijkstra! She's at Dijkstra's bathhouse!"

"I see some books… looks like a—"

"We have to hurry!" Triss grabbed Shepard's arm and dragged her to the bathhouse where, upon entry, everything was in disarray. They were too late, as Philippa had returned to human form and began attacking the occupants of the bathhouse.

"You damned fools! After her," Dijkstra ordered, pointing a bloated finger in her direction.

"Thanks, but we'll take it from here," Shepard interrupted.

"Oh no! The sorceress stays here!"

"That's fine. Good luck, Triss!"

"But—"

Shepard sprinted full speed and combat ready though the bathhouse, dodging Philippa's bolts of fire as she ducked behind tubs and walls. She ended up possessing some of the guards and forcing them to fight Shepard. She boxed, kicked, flipped, and ducked through the floods of people coming her way. She even ended up using a stick she found lying on the ground as a makeshift weapon. Eventually she found a tub that led to a secret passageway under the bathhouse. In the passage, she was met by a troll.

"Human no pastgo. Perty birdy nosay."

"No pass go? Do I at least get to collect two hundred dollars?"

"Perty birdy nosay dollar? What mean?"

"Then that means I get to pass go, right?"

"Too?"

"Yes."

"Human pastgo?"

As the troll stood there confused, Shepard slipped past him and headed further inside where she finally met Philippa.

"You will not take me!"

"I'm trying to help you! Just—"

Philippa summoned a Fire Elemental.

"Shit." Shepard, not having dealt with one before, wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation, so she ran for the corner and pulled out her machine pistol. To her dismay, she had left her last full clip back at Kaer Morhen, so she was completely out of ammo. Having lost all hope, she was prepared to fight the Elemental with everything she had, but as she tried to focus her thoughts, she began hearing whispers again. The Elemental became blurrier and blurrier until Shepard passed out, and when she awoke, what felt like hours later, but was really seconds later, the Elemental had turned to ash. Not knowing what had occurred, and not to keen on figuring it out, she picked herself up and continued her quest to obtaining Philippa Eilhart.

"What's happened? So quiet, all of a sudden?" Philippa continued to throw fire bolts.

"How about you watch where you're throwing those things! Are you blind!?"

"How dare you insult me?!" Philippa threw another bolt that missed Shepard entirely and ended up knocking a torch off the wall.

"Damn, she really must be blind." Shepard crept up on her as she continued attacking all areas of the room. She eventually grabbed her from behind and held her to the ground. She squirmed in an attempt to free herself. "Calm down. I'm trying to help you, I think."

"What do you want? To torment me? To watch others do so?"

"I need your help."

Philippa clutched Shepard's hand and allowed her to help her up.

"Betray me, and I shall—"

"I'm not going to. I think you know Triss. She's outside right now, waiting for you."

As they made their way to the front of the bathhouse, Dijkstra met them and stopped them in their path.

"My sincerest apologies, but the lady will come with me."

"How about no," Shepard responded.

"I don't even know who you are, so I have no quarrel with you, but Phil and I have lots to talk about. Remember the assassins you had sent after me, Philippa? Such matters should be handled personally, as I will now demonstrate."

"Listen to me, I don't have time for this. I don't know what the deal between you two is, and I also don't care. All I know is that I need this woman to do something for some reason, and you're interrupting the process."

"Involving yourself in matters you have nothing to do with? A grave error on your part."

"If you don't move out of my way, things will be looking a lot graver on your end."

The two of them stood face to face about an inch apart to see who could intimidate the other one into submission. Dijkstra's face relaxed and he backed off slightly.

"I'll let it slide this time. You seem like you might be tougher than you look, so how about we strike a deal?"

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

"You help me out with a favor later on, and, in exchange, I'll let you walk out of here with Philippa, completely unharmed."

"Sounds good enough to me. I'm in."

"Let's shake on it." The two shook hands. "I've leased a warehouse portside. When you're ready, be sure to come."

"Yeah, I know where that is," Shepard replied, knowing she didn't know what he was talking about at all.

"You two strike a deal, all while I'm standing right here, and you don't inform me of what it is?"

"Stay out of it," the two ordered in unison.

"I'm starting to like you more and more every minute. Soon enough, we shall be well acquainted." Dijkstra waved the two of them off, instructing them to leave his presence.

As they headed toward the exit, they were met by Triss, who'd seemed like she was dealing with more complicated matters.

"I'm sorry I took so long, I had to deal with the guards!"

"Hello, Triss."

"Philippa! Are you alright?"

"I've been better."

"I'll get you out of here." Triss opened a portal and led Philippa toward it.

"You two are going to teleport back while I have to—" The two of them entered the portal without saying a word to Shepard. "Great. I guess I'll just find my own way back.

As Shepard exited the bathhouse and attempted to retrace her steps back to the Rosemary and Thyme, she began to hear strange whispers in her head once again. She looked up to the sky and found herself blinded by then sun as she began entering a stage of hallucination. She snapped out of it the best that she could, yet, as the sun began to dim, she could see a strange bird flying off into the distance, eventually disappearing in thin air.

"Was that… of course not. Not here." She continued on her path toward Dandelion's inn, shaking off what she believed she'd just seen.

* * *

 _Eredin sat alone in an extravagant throne in the cabin of a Wild Hunt ship wearing a more flexible, skin tight armor, not made of steel, but of a thick, skin like material. He pressed a red button on the left arm of the seat, and a screen depicting a blurred black figure popped up._

 _"Have you made any progress," the mysterious figure requested._

 _"I have. I believe I've tracked the red headed one to Novigrad, gathering allies in an attempt to defeat me in battle, yet she does not yet know of my secret weapon."_

 _"YOUR secret weapon…" The figure stood silent for a while. "You have misjudged the situation. Perhaps you need more…"_

 _Eredin grabbed his head in pain as circuits that appeared almost like tattoos lit up his face. "Yes, master. We shall have her soon enough."_

 _"Good. Report to me as soon as you make progress." The screen disappeared._

 _Eredin picked up a mirror from a side table and could see that the implants were shining through like spider webs on his face. He grabbed a tin of foundation and dusted it on his skin in an attempt to cover his scars. As soon as he was done, Caranthir popped the door open and poked his masked head into the room._

 _"What are the orders?"_

 _"Continue as is. If anything changes, I will let you know."_


End file.
